Copyright © 2015. No duplication is permitted without permission from Bob Larson Tennis.

Stan Wawrinka paid the price for a late-night elimination of Rafael Nadal which sent him to bed at nearly 4 a.m. The Swiss then came out just over 12 hour later and was unable to cope with the big game of Novak Djokovic in a 6-3, 3-6, 6-0 semi-final loss at the Paris Masters.

“I had to come to press, I had to get my treatments, I had to eat, et cetera.  Then I went to bed,” said Wawrinka of his win over Nadal which ended at around 1 a.m..”But that’s normal when you finish that late. “I need to do what I can to recuperate. We are used to that kind of schedule.  We have to adapt to those late nights and we try to find solutions.”

Wawrinka who handed Djokovic his only loss of the year at a grand slam event when he won the French Open over the Serb, said that the Nadal victory drained away some of his reserves.

“It was tough the next day to play against Novak, who is very difficult to play in those conditions.  And of course I felt the tiredness.  It was extremely tough for me to fight. But in spite of this loss, and in spite of the (6-0) third set, I’m very happy the way I pushed him.

“I’m happy I won that second set.  I tried to find solutions.  I tried to be aggressive, and I believe that was good. When I start playing heavy, when I start to make him run, he doesn’t like it, because he has the feeling he’s not controlling the point anymore.  When I have a good quality of shots, when I play my game, I know he doesn’t like it.”

Wawrinka heads to the World Tour Finals starting next Sunday in London fully fit and confident in his game. “There are positive things I can take away from this week, it’s a very good result.  I took a set from him.  Last time I played indoors against him it was two straight sets, and I lost badly.

“That shows I’m improving and I’m finding solutions.  It’s good for London.”

Copyright © 2015. No duplication is permitted without permission from Bob Larson Tennis.