Stanislas Wawrinka's popularity figured to escalate in his home country after his Australian Open victory. But probably not to the extent that he has to clarify which is his home after two countries are claiming him as their own.
According to the Swiss website, The Local, Swiss newspapers are fuming over newspapers in Germany that are trying to hone in on Wawrinka's newfound fame by claiming him as one of their own.
The Local reported a headline that read, "The German Tennis Sensation", from German newspaper Bild Zeitung following the 28-year-old's victory in Sunday's Australian Open over Rafael Nadal, citing the fact that Wawrinka holds dual Swiss and German nationality. The Local reported that Swiss tabloid 20 Minutes said would the headline would "cause many Swiss fans to choke."
The Swiss tabloid Blick fired back, "acidly" pointing out that "Stan's' great-grandfather, via whom he acquired his German passport, had only briefly lived in Germany after fleeing Czechoslovakia in 1946. It also pointed out that Lausanne-born Wawrinka spoke no German and was treated as Swiss by the ATP, tennis's governing body."
Blick chalked up Bild Zeitung's headline as "sour grapes" because of Germany's recent lack of tennis stars.
"How desperate are they really?" Blick asked.
Wawrinka is now a career-high No. 3 in the world, behind Nadal and Novak Djokovic, both of whom he beat en route to his first Grand Slam title. He has won his first 10 matches of 2014. The ATP website lists his current hometown as St. Barthelemy, Switzerland.
So far, Wawrinka has not responded to the fight over his hometown claim, but that could be due to the possibility that he doesn't think that his citizenship is even a question.
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