Stan Wawrinka To Play At Open 13 In Marseille

Stan Wawrinka is confirmed to play at the Open 13 in Marseille. The tournament takes place in the middle of February in a month filled with tournaments on all types of surfaces, ranging from outdoor hard courts to clay. The Open 13 takes place on an indoor hard court and begins on February 15.

Open 13 Continues To Get Star Power

Despite being played at the same time as two other tournaments, including an ATP 500 event in Rio, the ATP 250 event in France continues to get some star players to come to their tournament. Marseille has seen the likes of Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray, Marat Safin, and Robin Soderling when the event switched from anInternational Series event to an ATP 250. In more recent memory, the tournament has seen Juan Martin del Potro, Janko Tipsarevic, Tomas Berdych, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Milos Raonic, and Wawrinkacome along. This will be the world number four’s second consecutive year at the Open 13.

Strong French Contingent

We cannot forget about the continually strong French contingent at the tournament. Gilles Simon, Gael Monfils, Richard Gasquet, Nicolas Mahut, Edouard Roger-Vasselin, and Julien Benneteauhave played at the tournament over the last couple of years along with Tsonga. Last year, an all-French final was contested between Simon and Monfils, and Simon took home the title winning the match in a third set tiebreaker. Before Simon, Tsonga was the last Frenchman to lift up the title, winning back in 2013 over Berdych in three sets.

French players have seen their fair share of success at one of their many home tournaments. Frenchman have won four of the last seven titles in Marseille. Only twice in the past eight years, 2008 and 2011, did the Open 13 contest a final without a Frenchman. In those finals, Murray and Soderling won respectively. Since the tournament originated back in 1993, the longest drought the French had was from 2000-2005; Arnaud Clement ended the drought in 2006.

2016 Australian Open player previews: World no. 4 Stan Wawrinka

In preparation for the first Grand Slam of the 2016 season, we're profiling the leading contenders to lift the Australian Open trophy. Next up is the world no. 4: Stan Wawrinka.

STAN WAWRINKA        WORLD RANKING: NO. 4

Australian Open History

2015 result: Semi-finalist

Best result: Event champion (2014)

No. appearance at the Australian Open: Tenth appearance

Grand Slam titles: 2

2015 Season In Summary

Win/loss record: 55-18

Win/loss on hard-courts: 37-12

Titles: 4 (Chennai, Rotterdam, Roland Garros, Tokyo.)

Grand Slam results:  Australian Open – Semi-finalist, French Open – Champion, Wimbledon – Quarter-finalist, US Open – Semi-finalist

Grand Slam match record: 21-3

ATP World Tour Finals result: Semi-finalist (2-2 win/loss record)

STAN WAWRINKA – AUSTRALIAN OPEN PREVIEW

The way Stan Wawrinka operates is old news. He fluctuates between fantastic and erratic. He switches from one direction to another without notice. He is highly talented, and highly streaky. And 2015 was the next chapter in this frustrating, intriguing tale.

In 2012, Stan Wawrinka was that consistent top 20 player too inconsistent to be a full-time top ten competitor. In 2013, he switched up through the gears, and became the top ten player not quite able to be consistently lethal. And in 2014, he proved that he didn't have to be.

Over the past couple of years, Stan Wawrinka has hinted that streakiness is the new consistency. After all, have Roger Federer and Andy Murray – for all their consistency – seen Grand Slam glory in the last couple of years? The answer, of course, is no. Stan Wawrinka, meanwhile, shocked the universe in claiming Australian Open triumph in 2014 – becoming the first none-Big Four member to claim major triumph since 2009. And just for good measure, when his maiden Slam was assumed to be a magnificent one-off, he zipped out from under the radar and bested Novak Djokovic for the 2015 French Open crown.

That Roland Garros victory was the highlight of Wawrinka's year. Before the tournament began, there were only two possible victors: Nine-time champion Rafael Nadal, or fearsomely hungry Novak Djokovic. Before the final, there was only one possible winner: World no. 1 Novak Djokovic. At the end of that ultimate Sunday, there was only one champion: Underdog Stan Wawrinka.

In both the Grand Slam titles that he won, Wawrinka was not even considered for victory before the tournament, and was very much an outsider before the final. And each time, he produced a wicked game to seal victory.

In 2015, Wawrinka has appeared his usual, fluctuating self, because in general he has been just that. Eighteen losses – twelve on hard-courts – have their say on that one. It is a massive amount for the world no. 4 to end the season with.

But in 2015, where it mattered, Stan Wawrinka made it. His Grand Slam record on the season - never falling before the quarter-finals and three times making it further - is second-best only to Novak Djokovic. And even at the ATP World Tour Finals – where he played underwhelming tennis for the majority of the tournament, even drawing accusations that he was tanking – the Swiss qualified for the semi-finals. His flashes-in-the-pan became more-regular-flashes-in-the-pan, until they have become something that could be a continuous emergence of his best game on the biggest stages in tennis.

For Wawrinka, there is really little point in looking at his previous event showings. Whether he had won the Melbourne crown in 2014 or lost in round one, it says nothing about what he might do this year. 

The facts are that Stan Wawrinka has a tremendous forehand, a great serve and a lethal backhand. And at the end of the day he can win whenever he wants, against whomever he wants, on whatever surface he wants. The lone, unanswerable question is: Will he do it?

Only time will tell.