When Roger Federer christened his friend Stan Wawrinka as "Stanimal" in a famous 2014 social media post, the lesser of Switzerland's two men's tennis greats had just won his first grand slam title, the Australian Open. He now has three; more than any active player other than Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic, and equal with current No.1 Andy Murray.
Stanimal. Wawrinka's favourite nickname. Not just – one imagines – for who bestowed it, but when, and why. "I like it because it came when I was playing big matches, it came when I played five-set matches and also I know that I'm strong when I go far, when I [play] long matches. So yeah, I enjoy that."
Those "big matches", particularly finals, have become something of a Wawrinka specialty under Magnus Norman, his coach since 2013. He had won 11 in succession from 2014-2016 until faltering against German Alexander Zverev in the St Petersburg decider in September. Significantly, the previous nine-year comparison was an underwhelming 4-9.
"I lost the last one, so not that great any more," quipped Wawrinka of his much-improved record. "But I gain confidence match by match, win by win, and when I arrive in the final I'm normally at my top of the week. I feel great, physically, mentally also. And I always go into the final, doesn't matter who I play, to try to win it."
The fact that he succeeded against Nadal three years ago at Melbourne Park remains a landmark moment in a career overshadowed for so long by Federer's, but now enjoying its own solar moment. Not that he has minded his second-fiddle status, Wawrinka insists, when the first fiddle was beyond compare and his own confidence sometimes painfully lacking. In the end, it took a third consecutive slam-winning/top-four season for the US Open champion to finish as the No.1 Swiss for the first time and end Federer's 15-year reign.
Hard feelings? Apparently not, even if some understandable impatience at constant Fed-related questions has occasionally spilled over. "For me it was a chance to grow up with him; he's a close friend," Wawrinka said. "The chance to, when you're young, practise with the No.1 player in the world so many times, to talk about tennis, to share the vision of tennis, to play Davis Cup with him, Olympics ... so for me I just always tried to look at the positive."
In Australia, that can be easier than elsewhere, despite a fourth-round Open defeat last January against Milos Raonic following a semi-final appearance the year before. Wawrinka's 2015 French Open success notwithstanding, the hardcourt majors have generally been the punishing ball-striker's most consistent, and Melbourne Park – where he upstaged Djokovic en route to his maiden final – was where it all began for Mr Still Not As Consistent As He'd Like To Be.
"My first grand slam, it will always be something special ... Melbourne was also where I went for the first time in Davis Cup for the [2003] semi-final, so it's always something special to go back to that stadium. All the memories from the final against Rafa, before and after the match also, I carry those images with me."
More recent are those from Flushing Meadows, where the 31-year-old became the first major champion in five years to save a match point en route to the title, and become the oldest slam-winning man since Andre Agassi in 2003. Only a relative lack of success at Wimbledon is now denying him a complete set.
Wawrinka says the three he does own have come in diverse circumstances and conditions but, physically and mentally, the US Open was his most challenging. It's not about which one was better, or more satisfying. "So I don't try to compare them, I just enjoy them all," he said, acknowledging Swede Norman's significant role in his late-career transformation. Pre-Norman: 36 slams, no semis. Post-Norman: beware.
Yet if his Wimbledon ambitions remain unfulfilled – "I think I can play my best tennis there, I didn't yet" – then Wawrinka is also growing accustomed to more frequent questions about his ability to reach No.1. He points out that only Djokovic has won more slams in the past three years, an achievement tempered by the reality that the top two remain far ahead of the chasing pack.
"I need to be way better and so far I'm not," he said. "When I say I'm not as consistent as Novak or Andy because they're No.1 and No.2 so they're in front of me in the ranking, they're making the final almost every time they go in the tournament and I don't. I don't play my best tennis, so I don't play good enough to be that high, yet. Maybe it will come. I'm trying everything to do that."
Wawrinka's attempt could not have been in a more competitive era, with only Murray (3) and Juan Martin del Potro (1) as fellow gatecrashers in a period of utter dominance by the double-digit big three. Perhaps, at another time, the heavy-hitter with the majestic single-handed backhand might have won more majors, but he is genuine when he says he is happy and proud to have been part of an "amazing" generation.
"To be in the [same] era as Roger, Rafa, Novak, Murray, it's something special for tennis, and they made me improve, they made me be a better player, and I don't think you can say, me or another player, 'oh, if we were playing 10 years ago we will win more', because we don't know."
More definitive is the belief of the habitually self-deprecating Wawrinka – he once said he may have been born to go no higher than No.9 – that he is playing the best tennis of his career, even if his results dropped away slightly in the closing months of the year. But he stresses that better tennis does not necessarily equate to more wins. Exhibit A: he claims to have played superior tennis at last year's French Open than in 2015, when he blasted 60 winners past Djokovic in a jaw-dropping final, and yet his title defence was ended by Murray in the semis.
This month, he traded his usual season-opening ATP event in Chennai for the Brisbane International, where he battled a blistered finger during a semi-final loss to Kei Nishikori before heading to Melbourne to complete his Open preparations. Wawrinka says he has no particular rituals/restaurants/regimens in the grand slam city.
The farmer's son is not necessarily the most sleek figure, yet few can question his stamina. He was the wronged party (yet still some way behind girlfriend Donna Vekic) in the Nick Kyrgios sledging affair, and his honest answer when asked on New York breakfast TV the morning after the US Open final what he drank out of the trophy the previous night was "too much".
That's the Stanimal. Big on staying/other power, and successful finals, with few things in moderation, it would seem. And however late it all started, and for however long he has struggled to believe, perhaps that includes what could still be achieved by Wawrinka, world No.4 and the No.2 Swiss no more.