Stan Wawrinka, 37, was thrilled about his opening performance at the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament in Rotterdam and said he believes he is going to make big results this year. Wawrinka, a three-time Grand Slam champion and a former world No 3, saw off Alexander Bublik 7-6 (5) 6-4 to progress into the Rotterdam round-of-16.
“I think it’s my best performance since I came back from my [left foot] injury last year. I’ve been working really hard to be fit again, feeling food. Tonight, tennis-wise and fitness-wise I’m feeling great, so hopefully I can keep going.
I know I need to push myself, I know the process takes time, especially at my age. But I also know the way I’m playing, the way I’m practising, the way I’m working hard, I will get some big results this year,” Wawrinka said, as quoted on the ATP website.
How Wawrinka beat Bublik?
Both players firmly held on to their service at the start of the match as the first break points were seen just in the 10th game. Leading 5-4 in the first set, Wawrinka had a break point on Bublik’s serve – which at the same time was his first set point – but the Kazakh saved it.
As no breaks were seen in the first set, the opener had to be resolved in a tie-break. In the tie-break, Bublik opened a 4-2 lead before Wawrinka won the next three points to overturn the deficit and go 5-4 up. Bublik won the 10th point to tie the tie-break to five points apiece, before Wawrinka won the following two points to win a tight opener.
After winning a tight first set, Wawrinka earned the first break of the match in the fifth game to take a 3-2 lead in the second set. In the sixth game, Wawrinka saved a break point to go 4-2 up. In the rest of the match, Wawrinka didn’t face any break points as he served out for the match in the 10th game.
