MONTE CARLO [MONACO] : Former champion Stan Wawrinka earned a comeback victory against Tallon Griekspoor on Monday when he overcame the Dutchman 5-7, 6-3, 6-4 to reach the second round at the ongoing Monte-Carlo Masters.
The Swiss star struck 35 winners and sealed victory to advance in Monte-Carlo after two hours and 25 minutes. The former World No. 3 will next play eighth-seeded American Taylor Fritz.
Wawrinka had just advanced to the fourth round of the Indian Wells tournament, where he defeated Top 10 player Holger Rune when he landed in Monte Carlo. Seven of Wawrinka’s 16 tour-level championships, including Roland Garros in 2015, have been won on clay.
“It was really important to stay calm with me. In the first round, you need to find your game. The first match on clay is never easy against a good player. I am happy to get through. It was important to fight until the end,” ATP.com quoted Wawrinka as saying.
“He is an amazing player. He is Top 10, been winning a lot of matches. Winning a lot of tournaments. He is very dangerous on many surfaces,” Wawrinka said on Fritz.
In other action, Francisco Cerundolo overcame World no. 14 Cameron Norrie 6-3, 6-4 to earn the seventh Top 20 win of his career.
After 72 minutes, the Argentine advanced and levelled his ATP Head2Head series versus Norrie at 1-1 by winning 90% (26/29) of his first-serve points and hitting 24 winners in the process. The 24-year-old will next portray either Maxime Cressy or Matteo Berrettini.
At the ATP Masters 1000 competition, Jack Draper won his opening match by defeating Sebastian Baez of Argentina 6-3, 7-5. The left-handed 21-year-old, who earlier this year advanced to the semifinals in Adelaide, will take on Hubert Hurkacz, the 10th seed. (ANI)