Veteran Stan Wawrinka Rekindles Fire With Rare Win In Rome
Stan Wawrinka believes he has what it takes to get back to playing “great tennis” again, the former world number three said after claiming his first victory in 15 months at the Italian Open on Monday. The 37-year-old Swiss knocked out 14th seed Reilly Opelka 3-6, 7-5, 6-2 in the Rome first round to win for the first time since last year’s Australian Open. Playing just his third match of the season, the three-time Grand Slam champion rallied from a set and a break down to beat the 6ft 11 inch (2.1 metre) American and set up a second round with Serbian qualifier Laslo Djere.
Wawrinka missed the majority of the 2021 season dealing with a foot injury that required two surgeries.
His ranking has dropped to 361 in the world and he admits there were moments during his time away from the sport where he felt he was “way too far to be able to come back”.
The desire to end his career on his own terms helped him work hard to rehabilitate his foot.
“After two surgeries, at my age, I could easily stop playing because my career is way better than what I expected when I grew up, when I was young,” Wawrinka said on Monday.
“But I still have this fire on me. I still believe that I can play great tennis. I still believe that I make some big results, maybe not now, but in few months.”
Meanwhile, Canadian Denis Shapovalov apologised after losing his cool in an argument with chair umpire Richard Haigh during his 7-6 (7/5), 3-6, 6-3 victory over Italian Lorenzo Sonego.
Late in the second set, Shapovalov had a second serve overruled by Haigh and crossed the net to his opponent’s side of the court to show the official the ball mark. The umpire explained to Shapovalov he would have to give him a code violation – which would result in a point penalty since it was his second of the match – because players are not allowed to cross over the net.
“That’s just the rule,” said the umpire before Shapovalov responded: “No it’s not. It’s stupid.”
When the Italian crowd erupted, booing Shapovalov for the lengthy stoppage in play, the 13th seed aimed a swear word at the fans as he yelled at them to “shut up”. Shapovalov also tried to get a heckler ejected from the stadium before play resumed. The Canadian’s second serve was deemed out resulting in a double fault, and he received a point penalty which handed Sonego a break and eventually the second set. (Agencies)