An overjoyed Stan Wawrinka “wants to keep hanging” with ending questions of a generation end with Roger Federer’s retirement
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Stan Wawrinka and Roger Federer
Stan Wawrinka did the unthinkable when he defeated the World No 3 Casper Ruud in the first round of the 2022 Swiss Indoors Open. The Swiss won 93 percent of his first serves to come out as the winner as he advanced into the second round for the 7th time. He received a standing ovation from the packed Swiss crowd acknowledging his victory.
Wawrinka is quite ecstatic with the win and left speechless, especially by the enormous support he received from his people. This is the first time the tournament is underway since the 20-time Grand Slam champion Roger Federer‘s retirement at the Laver Cup.
The Swiss even spoke that people have assumed that the time for the new generation of players to come forward has arrived especially after the Swiss maestro’s goodbye. Wawrinka dropped a major hint regarding his retirement. He revealed that he wishes to continue playing and has no plans of bidding adieu to the sport anytime soon.
Wawrinka during his post-match interview said that “I had never felt such support. The public supported me, it was strong. I don’t quite know how to explain it. There is Rodge’s retirement, the fact that I hadn’t played in Switzerland for a long time. People realize that a generation is going to leave. But I’m hanging on, I don’t want to leave.“
Stan Wawrinka registered his first win against a Top 3 in the year after defeating Casper Ruud
The 2014 Australian Open champion hasn’t had much success throughout the season. He has been struggling with his form due to his injuries and lack of form. His best performance of the year has been at the Moselle Open as he managed to reach the semi-finals. But he retired midway through the match against Andrey Bublik.
It is his 15th appearance at the ATP event in Basel where he defeated the Norwegian in straight sets in front of his home crowd in just one hour and 18 minutes of play. It was his first win against a Top 3 player since US Open in 2019 where he had defeated the 21-time Novak Djokovic in the fourth round. It marked his 60th Top 10 win and became the fourth man in the Open era to achieve this feat.
The 2016 US Open champion became the 16th man in the Open era to achieve this feat. Stan Wawrinka will next face America’s Brandon Nakashima in the second round to keep his hopes alive for his 17th ATP title as his last title win came in 2017.
Also Read: Rafael Nadal’s museum to unveil the special gift from Roger Federer to the Spaniard at the Laver Cup
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Prateek Pradhan
(601 Articles Published)