After a difficult year, Stan Wawrinka is on his way back to the top of the world. In St. Petersburg, the Swiss wants to lay the foundation for a successful annual financial statement.
The wildcard holder has already overcome the first hurdle in the Russian metropolis: In a hard-fought match Wawrinka defeated the Slovenian Aljaz Bedene 7:5 and 7:6 (5).
“I play really well in general. I have to stay patient and work hard off the pitch. Then we’ll see where we’re going,” said a satisfied Wawrinka after the first round victory. “I want to end the year well.”
The 33-year-old is quite capable of that. After a tough start to the season – he had to pause from February to May due to a persistent knee injury and therefore even fell out of the Top 250 in the world – Wawrinka seems to be back on top of the world rankings. He is currently 88th in the world rankings.
Wawrinka beat Grigor Dimitrov in the first round at Wimbledon, at the North American hard court tournaments in Toronto and Cincinnati was only against Nadal and Federer respectively. Stan the Man” reached the third round of the US Open after another victory over Grigor Dimitrov.
But these partial successes are only the beginning for the triple Grand Slam Champion. “At the beginning of next season, I want to be 100 percent ready. Then we’ll look ahead,” says the former world number three with cautious optimism.
“I never set myself the goal of achieving a certain ranking or winning a tournament. If I do things right every day, I know that good results will follow,” says Wawrinka. A win in the second round of St. Petersburg would be such a good result – Vavrinka will meet up-and-coming Russian Karen Khachanov.
The entire tableau of the St. Petersburg Open at a glance