Stan Wawrinka has probably won the biggest victory since his comeback. In the first round of Wimbledon 2018, the Swiss defeated Grigor Dimitrov 6-1, 6-7(3), 6-7(5), 4-6 after a bad start.
“It’s a great feeling to win such a match on the center court. Grigor is a tough opponent,” said Wawrinka, who won a match against a top 10 player for the first time in his career. “I wanted to improve over the course of the match, which I did quite well.”
Last year Wawrinka played the last game of his season on the Wimbledon Center Court. After that, he had to have two knee surgeries.
“I’ve been mentally weak for the last few months. I knew I’d be nervous, so at first I wasn’t on the level I could play,” said Wawrinka. “It was surprising that I got some chances to get back into the match. I’ve trained so much for this. “Sure, I’ll be a little tired tomorrow, but I’ll recover as best I can.”
After losing the first set, Wawrinka did not lose his nerve, but also seemed to believe in victory at all times from his body language. Although he gave a break lead in the second set, Wawrinka confidently secured the passage in the tiebreak.
In set three, it was the three-time major champion who first had to accept a loss of serve. But Wawrinka fought back from a 3-0 and 2-5 deficit, and also secured this passage after two defended set points in the tiebreak.
In the decisive fourth set, a break in the tenth game was enough for Wawrinka to make victory perfect after two hours and 53 minutes. It was Wawrinkas first victory in the last five duels with Dimitrov. His next opponent is the Italian Thomas Fabbiano.