By Erik Gudris | Monday, April 21, 2014

He may not be No.1, but to borrow from Hollywood parlance, Stanislas Wawrinka has gone from being in the supporting cast to now the leading man.

Now that Wawrinka has won three events this year, including the Australian Open, he currently leads the current ATP race points for the year-end final in London. It's a fact that is more remarkable considering the Swiss No. 1 only claimed four titles in his entire career before the start of this season.

Wawrinka Wins First ATP 1000 Title Over Federer in Monte Carlo

Wawrinka's continuing transformation now includes a maiden ATP 1000 title in Monte Carlo. Not only that, Wawrinka won it over his friend Roger Federer. No small feat considering Wawrinka only held one previous win against Federer, also in Monte Carlo years ago, and was always quite content to remain under Federer's shadow.

While long viewed as having a solid all-around game, including perhaps the best one-handed backhand on tour, Wawrinka's shaky mental strength and self-belief always lacked convincing many he could truly challenge the elite. That all changed when Wawrinka partnered with Magnus Norman just before the start of the clay court season last year. The results now speak for themselves, although Norman himself didn't pair up with Wawrinka thinking he could turn him into a top five player.

"I took the job because Stan for me is a really humble guy, a really nice guy," Norman said in an interview with The Australian just after Wawrinka's Melbourne title win in January. "But I didn't take the job because I thought Stan was going to be top five. I knew he had great results in him and it's great to work with a guy who likes to work hard, but this is a little beyond my expectations. We never talked about being No. 1 in Switzerland. We never talked about rankings. I liked his tattoo. It sums up what he stands for."

Ah yes, the now most famous tattoo in tennis that has sent many scrambling to their favorite online search engines to look up what it means and who wrote it. While it's still unclear how many new Samuel Beckett fans Wawrinka created since unveiling his forearm ink that reads, "Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better," it's clear Wawrinka also has those famous lines inscribed in his head and in his heart. Wawrinka's early success this year proves he will unlikely doubt himself anymore, even if he does fail to win every time.

"I'm really happy after winning my first Grand Slam to win a Masters 1000 so quick. I didn't expect," Wawrinka said after winning Monte Carlo. "When I came here, for me it was more like a test. I knew I was playing good tennis, but I didn't expect to win because the draw was so strong. Yeah, again, I can see that when I'm moving well, when I'm there fighting with myself, strong with myself, I can beat all the players."

After suffering perhaps an expected letdown just after winning his first major, Wawrinka is back on his winning track. But now having lifted the Monte Carlo trophy, Wawrinka will have to deal with increased expectations heading into Paris. Already there's talk that Wawrinka just might figure out a way to win the elusive Australian Open/French Open double. Of course, defending champion Rafael Nadal will have a lot to say about that. But now Wawrinka will be expected to go deep every time now that he's part of the ATP's top four.

But not the often described "big four," at least not according to Wawrinka himself.

"I just think the big four will always be the big four: Rafa, Novak, Roger and Murray. They won all the tournaments since many years and you cannot change that," Wawrinka said when asked if he was now part of a "big five" in men's tennis.

Wawrinka remains humble, and that what fans love about him. Yet with his breakthrough results so far this season, "Stan the Man," as he's called, will have to get used to being more in the spotlight that he's earned every right to bask in and enjoy. 

Perhaps it was fitting then that it was in Monte Carlo, known for its glitz, glamour and famous stars who call it home, where the once longtime member of the tour's "B-List" stepped up and firmly announced his position as one of the ATP tour's newest yet firmly entrenched "A-List" members.