Stan Wawrinka has admitted he had doubts about returning from injury after spending over a year on the sidelines
The three-time Grand Slam champion suffered a foot injury in early 2021 and required two operations on his way to recovery.
After 13 months out, he finally made his return at a Challenger Tour event last month in Marbella and is now set to face Alexander Bublik in the first round of the clay-court tournament in Monte Carlo.
And the 37-year-old has said there were times he questioned whether he could return to the sport.
“I thought I would be (out) only a few weeks,” he said.
“It lasted a whole year with many moments of doubts. Of course, there were those questions in my mind.
“I was afraid things wouldn’t happen the way I wanted them to happen, and when you have those difficult times and those doubts, you know you need to go through rehab to be able to live a normal daily life anyway.
“So in my mind, one way or the other, I knew I would want to come back.”
Wawrinka’s first match back in Marbella ended in defeat as Elias Ymer defeated the Swiss 6-2, 6-4.
But he says that, having once thought he may return just to say goodbye, that things are looking positive even if his body isn’t quite what it used to be.
“Maybe saying goodbye, having pain would be an option, but for the time being things are going well.”
“My level is pretty good in practice, but I need to find my game during matches … try to do the right things and practise a lot and stay positive, even if sometimes I feel very frustrated because I can see what I need to do and I can’t do it.”
