'It's Why I Keep Playing': Wawrinka Downs Ruud In Basel
Competing at the Swiss Indoors Basel for the 15th time, Stan Wawrinka thrilled his home fans by recording his biggest win since defeating Novak Djokovic at the 2019 US Open.
The 37-year-old from Lausanne used a crisp and efficient performance to upset second seed Casper Ruud 6-4, 6-4 in the pair's first ATP Head2Head meeting. Wawrinka converted on each of his two break points — one late in each set — and saved all three against him to close out the victory in one hour and 18 minutes.
"It's super special. A lot of emotion being back here in Basel with the Swiss fans," he said post-match. "It's always been amazing for me to play here [but] it's always been difficult because I am always nervous when I enter this court. I always want to show my best. It took me a little bit of time to adapt to the court but the level was great and I'm really happy with that.
"This is one of the main reasons why I keep on playing," added Wawrinka, who entered the event with a protected ranking. "I'm getting old, that's for sure. I had to fight the last two years with the injury, surgery. Coming back was not easy. I was struggling really to get back in shape physically and tennis-wise. So to be able to produce that tonight here in Switzerland is of course something really special and hopefully I can keep playing well."
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Ruud committed just four unforced errors in the match, but one handed Wawrinka the decisive break in the second set as the Norwegian surrendered serve at love with an untimely loose game. Wawrinka, who won 93 per cent (26/28) of his first-serve points and hit 28 winners, served out the victory with ease to advance to the Basel second round for the seventh time.
The Swiss scored his first break to lead 4-3 in the opening set, then fought off three break points in the ensuing game to consolidate. He would not face another break point in the match as both men dominated on serve, save four Ruud's late slip in the second set. Both men held to love three times in a speedy second set that saw just four points go against serve outside of Wawrinka's break.
Wawrinka has reached 30 tour-level finals in his career, winning 16 titles, but has never reached the title match in Basel. Now 14-13 overall at the ATP 500, he seeks to improve on semi-final runs in 2006 and 2011.
He will next face #NextGenATP American Brandon Nakashima, who beat David Goffin 2-6, 7-6(4), 6-4 on Monday.
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Ruud has now lost his past three matches, including defeats to eventual champion Yoshihito Nishioka in Seoul and Jaume Munar in Tokyo.Though he beat Jack Sock in a Match Tie-break at the Laver Cup, he is still searching for his first ATP Tour tournament win since his US Open final run, which lifted him to a career-high of No. 2 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings.
Despite the loss, the Norwegian's place in next month's Nitto ATP Finals is already secured. He sits fourth in the Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Turin and cannot be passed this week.