Wawrinka Learning to Banish Doubts As one Swiss player is faltering, another is realizing his full potential. With Roger Federer slipping down the rankings, there is a possibility that Stanislas Wawrinka could become Switzerland's No. 1 player in the next year or so, unless Federer halts his decline. At the start of the year, the possibility that Federer and Wawrinka would head into the United States Open separated by only three places in the rankings seemed about as likely as Marion Bartoli winning Wimbledon. But then, this season has been a strange one in many ways. Wawrinka looked sharp during a 7-6 (2), 6-3, 6-2 first-round win over the wily Radek Stepanek on Wednesday night, serving well and looking very capable of reaching the Open's second week for the fifth time in his career. The match got under way around six hours later than expected because of a lightning storm followed by a spell of rain at Flushing Meadows. Such delays can be testing for players: it is difficult to stay focused when you are waiting around to see if play will be called off for the day. But as Wawrinka explained in a recent interview, he is a more mature player these days. "I've been working on my game for many years, but so much has to come from experience," he said. Now I'm 28, and I'm more prepared to handle different situations both on and off the court. Wawrinka has also found a new coach who understands him and his game. He has started working with the former world No. 2 Magnus Norman, who has helped raise Grigor Dimitrov's game this season. "We started together exactly after the Monte Carlo Masters," Wawrinka said. I really believe that Magnus is going to make a big difference for me in the next few years. He's helping me have the confidence to believe in my game. This has been a year of breakthrough performances for Wawrinka, beginning with one of the toughest losses of his career. His five-hour epic match with Novak Djokovic at the Australian Open will go down as one of the most thrilling matches of the season. It was a defeat, but it gave Wawrinka the belief that he belongs at tennis's top table. "The match with Novak gave me so much confidence to keep going and to win so many matches," Wawrinka said. Afterwards I said to myself, O.K., now you are capable of playing at that level and beating one of the top guys. A win over David Ferrer in the final of the Portugal Open confirmed his thinking, and he went on to reach the final of the Madrid Masters and the quarterfinals of the French Open, losing to Rafael Nadal on both occasions. Wawrinka is prone to doubting himself on the court, an affliction that seems to haunt the most mercurial of shotmakers. Norman has been trying to encourage Wawrinka to free himself of those inhibitions and play the naturally flowing tennis that makes him so fun to watch in full flight. "I think we all get a little bit nervous," Wawrinka said. Even the best. The question is how you deal with that, and the better players, they deal with it much better. They accept it more, and they still play their game when they are nervous while some other players change the way they play a little bit. But I think with experience and with talking a lot about it to your coach, you learn. He continued: "Magnus is telling me to be more aggressive, try to push more with my forehand and the serve, but of course my game is still more or less the same. You can't change your game at 28, it's just trying to improve what you have. Sometimes I'm hesitating about things because I'm not feeling confident. That's what I'm trying to change. Does Wawrinka wish that these realizations had come a little sooner in his career? "No, I don't think so," he said. We can always wish for different things, but I'm really happy with what's happened in my career. I have always tried to fight and always tried to give everything. And after 10 years, I have done more or less a great job and still have a few good years to go.