“He still has the privilege of playing with Stan, damn it!”: How Arthur Cazaux and Stan Wawrinka ended up as doubles partners

Arthur Cazaux and Stan Wawrinka will be teaming up in doubles this Tuesday, January 28, the day after the former's victory over the latter (6-4, 6-3) in the first round of the Open Occitanie.

One day, opponents. The next day, partners. Teamed up in doubles this Tuesday after having fought head-to-head the day before, Arthur Cazaux and Stan Wawrinka could have refused such a team-up given the singles draw. The two men hesitated for a good… half-second before making their decision.

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“It's true that it was special to face each other today (Monday).On Saturday, we had announced that we would practice together on the center court. We wanted to exchange a few points. Then the scoreboard came out three minutes before our practice. We saw that we were facing each other, we said to ourselves: “Well, what do we do ? We change our plans ?” Finally, we said to ourselves: “We don't care.” We were supposed to do this practice, to play a set, so we did it. It was quite funny”, says Arthur Cazaux, happy to share the court with the man who has won three Grand Slams.

The decision to play side by side was made a few days before the start of the Montpellier tournament. “I asked Seb Grosjean (director of the Open)to play doubles. He suggested Arthur to me. I said yes right away. We trained yesterday (Saturday), we had trained in the past. We get along well, it’s a pleasure to play with him. You feel like he's a good person, you want to spend time with him”, explains the 39-year-old Swiss.

“Stan, he's the cool guy”

A slew of compliments that didn't leave the Montpellier native unmoved. However, physically, he could have decided to give up on doubles and focus solely on singles, especially knowing that a second round against Félix Auger-Aliassime (former world No. 6) was looming.

“It's good, it's very good even, that he's continuing”, smiles the coach of Cazaux, Sam Sumyk. “That's extra matches. Sometimes, it's necessary. It's still competition. Nobody wants to lose. And then, he still has the privilege of playing with Stan. Shit! So, I hope they'll exchange, share.”

This association is just a plus. And the human feeling went well between the two men. “Stan, he's a cool guy. Honestly, I don't know him very well yet, we've crossed paths many times at tournaments but there I was able to share several moments with him”, appreciates the 22-year-old player.