Stan is still the man, at least for now, and the reigning Australian Open champion says he is satisfied with the under-the-radar path his title defence has so far taken heading into a redemption match against Japan's Kei Nishikori.
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Switzerland's Stan Wawrinka, the man who defeated Rafael Nadal to clinch his first grand slam at last year's Open, continued his relatively low-key stroll through the early rounds by defeating Spain's Guillermo Garcia-Lopez in four sets, 7-6 (7-2), 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 (10-8), at Margaret Court Arena on Monday.
Clutch play in the first and fourth-set tie-breakers allowed the No. 4 seed to book a quarter-final match-up against Nishikori, the man who beat him in the quarters of last year's US Open.
Nishikori, the fifth seed here, burst into the final eight on Monday by outgunning Spain's No. 9 seed David Ferrer in straight sets, 6-3, 6-3, 6-3 – a thoroughly impressive display that would come as no surprise to Wawrinka.
"I've practised with him before the tournament. He's a great shot-maker," Wawrinka said of Nishikori, when asked to speak about the man who defeated him in an epic five-setter the last time they met," he said.
"It doesn't matter where he is on the court, he is taking the ball really early so it's tough to play against him – he doesn't give you too much time.
"But if I can play heavy, if I can play my game, then that makes it tough for him to take the ball early."
Wawrinka was made to work hard before advancing past Garcia-Lopez, especially in closing out the match in the fourth set. Wawrinka needed to survive five sets points, having slumped to 2-6 down in the tiebreaker.
When Wawrinka was in control – which seemed like the majority of the contest – his play was punctuated by high-class work at the net (winning 30 out of 40 points when he came in) and fluent one-handed, cross-court backhands that peppered the lines.
Signs of the nagging arm injury that Wawrinka described afterwards as "nothing serious" were few and far between.
He seemed to be in a strong position to win in straight sets, consolidating an early break to reach 4-2 in third, but suddenly lost his rhythm as the pesky Garcia-Lopez shifted to a nothing-to-lose mindset and caught fire.
"My game is there, I've played great tennis so far," Wawrinka said.
"I haven't spent too much energy in the first week and now I get a chance to play another quarter-final so let's see how I can go."
