ATP Basel: Swiss Festival! Unleashed Stan Wawrinka shocks Casper Ruud
After an impressive performance, Stan Wawrinka is in the second round of the ATP 500 event in Basel, as is compatriot Dominic Stricker . Stan the Man sensationally eliminated Casper Ruud from the tournament.
by Michael Rothschädl
last edit:
Oct 25, 2022, 09:28 pm
The first two matches with Swiss participation were already well presented on Tuesday. At the start of the day, Jerome Kym and Leandro Riedi made a sensation against the strong duo Zeballos/Granollers. And then youngster Dominic Stricker heated up the St. Jakobshalle enormously - the only 20-year-old surprised Maxime Cressy and won his second-round ticket with a 7: 6 (4) and 6: 3.
And so it was up to Stan Wawrinka to ensure a flawless game day from a Swiss perspective in the penultimate singles of the day. The task for the three-time Grand Slam winner could hardly have been more difficult, Wawrinka had to compete with the number two of the tournament, the number three in the world, Casper Ruud right from the start.
Wawrinka with a tailor-made start
The former third in the world rankings accepted this challenge brilliantly, initially being able to score easy points with good services in his service games - and then was wide awake at the right moment. Casper Ruud let himself be careless in the middle of the first sentence and was promptly punished with the break. And because Wawrinka still didn't allow anything on his own serve, section one went to the local hero after almost exactly 40 minutes.
In the meantime, the St. Jakobshalle was almost filled to the last seat, almost every backhand shot by Wawrinka was accompanied by reverent murmurs from the ranks. In short: Casper Ruud was increasingly confronted with the much-cited cauldron. Which was further reinforced by the fact that the third in the world rankings could hardly do anything with Wawrinka's serve.
Wawrinka ice cold
The first tricky situation for the Swiss was consequently a long time coming. More specifically, down to 2-3, when he took a 40-0 a little too easy, but found a good serve at 40-30. Opponent Ruud, on the other hand, now acted extremely well.
Up to the score of 4:4. Then the Norwegian underwent a catastrophic service game. Wawrinka struck ice cold - and made the decisive break to zero. Because: the Swiss didn't let anything burn in the following game. And sensationally bought the ticket for the second round.