“First Ever Code Violation”: Stan Wawrinka Trolls Rafael Nadal at Rolex Paris Masters 2020

World No.19 Stan Wawrinka is prepping up for the Paris Masters 2020. Recently, Wawrinka was captured practicing with the 13-time Roland Garros champion, Rafael Nadal, before the start of the indoor tournament. After losing in the opening round of the Vienna Open, Wawrinka will face British No.1 Dan Evans in the first round at Paris-Bercy.

Humorously, the 3-time Grand Slam champion, Wawrinka, uploaded a picture of Nadal and himself on his Instagram account. In the post, Wawrinka is seen impersonating the chair umpire while Nadal is sitting on the player’s bench.

Captioned “Giving @rafaelnadal his first ever code violation”, Wawrinka hilariously trolled Nadal, who is known for his sportsmanship and fair play on the court.

The duo has played 22 times against each other, with Nadal leading the lopsided rivalry 19-3. However, Wawrinka defeated Nadal at 2014 Australian Open Final and denied the Spaniard his second Aussie crown. Interestingly, they last squared off in the Round-of-16 at Paris Masters last year, where Nadal won the match in straight sets.

Notably, Wawrinka won his first and only ATP Masters 1000 title at the Monte Carlo Masters in 2014. Whereas, Nadal will aim to equal Djokovic to win his 36th ATP Masters trophy and his first-ever title at Paris-Bercy.

The defending champion Novak Djokovic has withdrawn from the tournament, followed by the US Open winner, Dominic Thiem, who got injured during his quarterfinal match at Vienna Open.

Rafael Nadal route to the final

World No.2 will begin his title hunt by facing Filip Krajinovic or fellow Spaniard Feliciano Lopez in the opening round. Nadal will probably face Borna Coric in the third round and might face Alexander Zverev in the semifinals.

The Spaniard’s potential opponent in the final could be Diego Schwartzman or Stefanos Tsitsipas and they have been in scintillating form lately.