Stan Wawrinka, 37, was excited about his maiden performance at the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament in Rotterdam and said he thinks he will get great results this year. Wawrinka, a three-time Grand Slam champion and former world number 3, defeated Alexander Bublik 7-6(5) 6-4 to advance to the round of 16 in Rotterdam.
«I think it’s my best performance since I got back from my [left foot] injury last year. I’ve been working really hard to get fit again, feeling the food. Tennis and fitness wise tonight I feel really good 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 that the way I play, the way I practice, the way I work hard, I will get great results this year,» said Wawrinka, quoted in the ATP website.
How did Wawrinka beat Bublik?
Both players firmly held their serves early in the match as the first break points came only in the tenth 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.
Since there were no breaks in the first set, the first set had to be resolved in a tie-break. In the tiebreaker, Bublik opened a 4-2 lead before Wawrinka raked in the next three points to overturn the deficit to move up 5-4. Bublik won the tenth point to tie the tiebreaker at five points apiece, before Wawrinka won the next 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 second set lead. In the sixth game, Wawrinka saved a break point to move up 4-2. In the remainder of the match, Wawrinka did not face any break points as he served for the match in the tenth game.
