Wawrinka advances to Round of 16 at Indian Wells
The Vaudois eliminated the Serb Miomir Kecmanovic in two sets, Saturday evening in the Californian Masters 1000.
Stan Wawrinka seems to be regaining his level of play.
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Stan Wawrinka (ATP 100) qualified for the round of 16 of the Masters 1000 in Indian Wells, California on Saturday night by beating Serbian Miomir Kecmanovic (ATP 31) in two sets, 7-6 (10/8) 6- 4, after one hour and 44 minutes of play.
After two quarter-finals, in Rotterdam then in Marseille in February, the 37-year-old Vaudois seems to be gradually regaining the level of play that allowed him the greatest exploits. He had not reached this stage of the competition in a Masters 1000 since May 2022 in Rome and a round of 16 loss to Novak Djokovic.
In California, the first set lasted an hour and nine minutes between the two players. Wawrinka started very well as he made the break at 3-2 to then win his serve and lead 5-2. But Kecmanovic was able to take advantage of a slight drop in speed from the Vaudois, who committed three unforced errors in a row at 5-3, to recover from this late game and then return to 5-5. The tie-break was inevitable and, after saving three set points including one on the Serbian’s serve, Stanimal won 10-8.
On fire in service with 88% of points scored behind his first ball and 13 aces, Wawrinka gave his opponent no chance until 4-4 in the second set. From then on, Kecmanovic did not score a single point and the Vaudois won this round in 36 minutes.
In the next round, Stan Wawrinka will face either the American Mackenzie McDonald (ATP 53, 27) or the Dane Holger Rune (ATP 8, 19). The Lausannois has never challenged McDonald and he has only played once against Rune, a meeting lost in three rounds at the Masters 1000 in Paris last year.
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