The 38-year-old Wawrinka, who has won three Grand Slam titles, made the last 32 by seeing off Argentina’s 29th seed Tomas Martin Etcheverry 6-3, 4-6, 6-4, 6-2.
It will be his first time in the third round at the All England Club since 2015, when he went on to make the quarter-finals.
Former world number three Wawrinka, now ranked at 88 after a lengthy battle with injuries, has only beaten Djokovic six times in 26 meetings.
However, they have never met on grass.
“I will enjoy it if I don’t get killed,” said Wawrinka. “Novak is an amazing champion. I am happy to get the chance to play him on grass before I finish my career. “It will be a big challenge and I will have to play at a high level.” Two of Wawrinka’s wins over Djokovic came in Grand Slam finals — at the 2015 French Open and 2016 US Open.
The Swiss also beat the 23-time major winner in the last eight of the 2014 Australian Open on his way to his maiden Slam triumph.
However, admitting that he has “zero opportunity” to win the title, Wawrinka was quick to hail Djokovic’s talents.
“Give me one weakness. He’s the perfect player,” said Wawrinka.
“If you look, everything is so clean. He plays the perfect shot in the right moment. I love to watch him play, as much as I was loving to watch Roger play. He can do everything.”
Wawrinka’s duels in the Slams with Djokovic have been epic encounters — in the Paris and New York finals, Wawrinka won in four sets after dropping the opener.
In the 2014 Australian Open quarter-finals, Wawrinka came through 9-7 in the last set.
A year earlier in Melbourne, Djokovic had triumphed in five sets, with the decider going to 12-10.
In all they have met eight times at the Slams and have won four matches apiece.
“I have a powerful game from baseline, forehand, backhand, and I was physically ready to compete with him,” said Wawrinka, as he explained his staying power against Djokovic at the majors.
“Probably the two best matches of my career were those at the French Open and US Open. Great memories.”
Djokovic should be more refreshed than Wawrinka after booking his place in the third round on Wednesday, avoiding the scheduling chaos caused by this week’s rain.
He joked that Wawrinka “took away two Grand Slams from me. That’s the role he played, beating me in two Grand Slam finals.”
“No, I like Stan a lot. He’s a great person. Really always inspirational what he’s doing at his age. He’s almost 40 years old and he still keeps going strong. That’s something that not many people can do.”
dj/jw
For all the latest Sports News Click Here
For the latest news and updates, follow us on Google News.
