“Stan the Man” new ATP world no. 15 after Prague Challenger title

Stan Wawrinka returned to the circuit after a five-month gap. He clinched the Prague Challenger title, steadily rising up the ranking charts. He beat Aslan Karatsev 7-6 6-4.

Stan struggled in the first set

Stan Wawrinka and Aslan Karatsev had a neck to neck competition in the first set. It went into a tie-break. Stan enjoyed an upper hand due to his experience at the circuit. He quickly went on to seal the set 7-6 (2).

The second set was a much easier fight as Stan worked up to hold his serve and break Karatsev serve and win the title in an hour and 44 minutes.

An interesting fact to note is that Stan won the finals straight sets. While he had dropped a set in each round to reach the finals.

Back to the top 15 rankings

Stan Wawrinka is slowly making a comeback amongst the top players. He fell to the top 200 players while enduring a knee injury. He was ranked no.3 at that time and has been eager to make a comeback.

Earlier this year, Stan said “I loved this period. It allowed me to spend a lot of time with my daughter, to go to school with her, to enjoy being at home, calm down, to establish a routine,” the three-time major champion said.

He as already withdrawn from the US Open so it is not certain how long he will be able to hold his rank. The new rankings are yet to be updated at the ATP website.

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