(Tennis news) Former Grand Slam champion Stan Wawrinka earned his first ATP victory in 15 months when the 37 year old defeated Reilly Opelka 3-6 7-5 6-2 at the Italian Open. The Swiss tennis player was featuring in what was his second tour match since March 2021 after sustaining a foot injury and is currently ranked 361st. Speaking after his victory, Wawrinka said “The support is the main reason why I'm still playing and came back.”
The former World Number 3 was trailing 14th seed Opelka by a set and 2-4 in the first round in Rome but the Swiss tennis player fought hard to turn the game around to secure his maiden victory against the American. Wawrinka said “I think in general I was feeling good on the court. Physically I was feeling great. For sure when you don't win a match in more than a year, you start to think about it more than you should and not focus on the right things. In general I think it was a great match, a great battle. I stayed positive. I started to feel much better with my tennis by the end of the second set, and [in] the third set. I'm really happy with this victory.”
“You just have to stay positive and try to fight. If you get a bit lucky, if you show him that you're going to stay there, you are going to get some chances. I got some chances, I played better, and he started to miss a few. After two surgeries, at my age I could easily have stopped playing because my career is way better than what I expected when I was young. But I still have this fire in me. I still believe that I can play great tennis. I still believe that I will make some big results, maybe not now, but in a few months. There is no shortcut. I needed to do that time on the court and off the court. It has been a long time since I was out. I gained some weight, it was tough. With foot surgery you can't do much. I needed a lot of effort to be back, but already in the last few weeks since [Monte Carlo] it is much better.”
In other results, British tennis player Dan Evans’ winless run continued as he lost 7-6 (7-2) 6-2 to Georgia's Nikoloz Basilashvili. The result means that the 31 year old has now lost all five first-round matches on clay in Rome. Japanese tennis player Naomi Osaka has announced her withdrawal from the tournament due to injury. The 24 year old said “Unfortunately I'm going to have to withdraw from Rome as the injury which I picked up last week in Madrid hasn't healed yet. It's an Achilles injury, so I need to be careful especially in advance of Roland Garros.” Osaka will hope to be fit for the Roland Garros which will begin on 22nd May after controversially withdrawing from the tournament over refusing to speak to the media and revealing her mental health struggles. She subsequently took a break from the sport and has won 12 of her 16 matches since her return.
Also read: Carlos Alcaraz defeats Alexander Zverev to win the Madrid Open title
