ATP Doha: Stan Wawrinka with a successful start to the season
Stan Wawrinka has successfully started the new season. The 34-year-old Swiss defeated Frenchman Jeremy Chardy in two sets on Tuesday evening. Wawrinka is number one at the Qatar ExxonMobil Open in Doha, the first ATP 250 event of the year.
by Florian Heer
last edit: Jan 07, 2020, 08:12 pm
By Florian Heer from Doha
With light wind and a pleasant 19 degrees on the center court of the Khalifa International Tennis and Squash Complex, number 15 in the world was the dominant player. Wawrinka took an hour and 27 minutes; to seal the seventh win in the seventh duel with Chardy with 6.3, 6.4.
Chardy as a foe
“It was a good level match. I was focused today and moved around the course well. The first match of the year always feels a little different. But I am very satisfied with my appearance, ”commented the tournament favorite after the season premiere.
"I'm sure I have one of my best records against Jeremy. However, it is always difficult to play against him because he serves very well. However, I was able to find a way and even after a break against me in the second set I tried to remain aggressive. ”
Wawrinka with a concerned view towards Australia
Wawrinka, who was in the Doha final twelve years ago and was defeated by Andy Murray, is looking for his first tournament success on the ATP tour since Geneva 2017. “I arrived early and trained well for the first match to be ready, ”says the Swiss veteran, who also keeps an eye on what's going on at the ATP Cup in Australia.
“Today I saw something from Tsitsipas against Kyrgios. It was one of a few really great matches at the start of the season, ”says Wawrinka, but is also concerned about the ongoing bushfire down under. "It is really sad to see what is happening there. It is a disaster for the country, for everyone on the ground. I hope that the situation will improve soon. "
Before the three-time Grand Slam champion travels to Melbourne for the first major of the year, the quarterfinals against Aljaz Bedene in Doha are on the program on Thursday. The 30-year-old Slovenian ended Alexander Bublik's debut in the desert state with a 6: 3, 7: 5 success. Wawrinka's record is also positive in this upcoming duel. He leads in a direct comparison with 3: 1.
Fucsovics bowles Tiafoe out
In the afternoon, Marton Fucsovics from Hungary was able to continue his successful run at his first tournament of the year. After qualifying, number 70 in the world rankings moved into the second round with a 6: 4, 4: 6, 6: 4 over the American eight-placed Frances Tiafoe. Fucsovics is now dealing with the Turk Cem Ilkel, who is represented in the main field by a wild card.
Laslo Djere, number 5 of the $ 1,465,260 hard court tournament, also had to go through three sets to finally leave the field with a 6: 1, 3: 6, 6_2 over the Italian Lorenzo Sonego. Mikhail Kukushkin, on the other hand, had no problems with the Tunisian Malek Jaziri. 6: 0, 6: 3 came after 68 minutes for the Kazakh, who is thus the opening opponent for the number two Russian Andrey Rublev.