"It's great to see him back" - Djokovic happy to see Wawrinka back to competing

Stan Wawrinka robbed Djokovic of a couple of grand slams but the Serbian has always respected Wawrinka and he was happy playing against him once more.

Novak Djokovic moved to within one win of retaining his World No. 1 status Thursday at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia, overcoming Stan Wawrinka 6-2, 6-2 in chapter 26 of their long-running rivalry. Djokovic now leads Wawrinka 20-6 in their ATP Head2Head series, with their meeting in Rome their first since the Swiss star defeated the top seed at the US Open in 2019.

He said:

“It is great to see Stan back and winning. He won two tough matches. You can see he is still not physically where he wants to be. But nevertheless, he is Stan Wawrinka and he can hurt you if you give him time. I managed to do well from the beginning. I really moved him around the court and held my serve comfortably except for that loss of my serve in the second set.”

The 34-year-old will compete in his 89th ATP Masters 1000 quarter-final on Friday against Felix Auger-Aliassime. She said:

“I have known Felix for quite a few years. He is established, a Top 10 player, so is right up there. He is as hard worker on the Tour that you see and he is a nice guy. His all-around game is improving. He is improving on clay. I know his game and what is expected.”