Rome – AFP
Veteran Swiss Stanislas Wawrinka scored his first victory in more than a year following defeating American Riley Opelka, ranked 17th in the world, 3-6, 7-5, 6-2, in the first round of the Rome International Tournament, one of the 1,000-point Masters tournaments.
Wawrinka, ranked third in the world previously, who fell to 361 in the world rankings, was eliminated in the first round of the Spanish Marbella and Monte Carlo tournaments, and they are the only ones he has participated in since the beginning of this year.
Wawrinka, 37, needed two hours and 5 minutes to beat Opelka, the 14th seed in the tournament, while the crowd saluted his return to the winning streak once morest the American, who reached the semi-finals of the last edition in Rome.
Wawrinka, who won three major titles in the Grand Slam (Australia, Roland Garros in 2014 and Flushing Meadows in 2016), ended his participation in March 2021, following he was eliminated from the first round of the Doha tournament due to a left leg injury that kept him out of action for regarding a year.
The last victory of the Swiss, who hit a date in the second round with Serbian Laslo Djerjee (58), returns to the first round of the Australian Open in February 2021.