No one ever said coming back from knee surgery would be easy, but Stan Wawrinka knows he’s moving in the right direction. After shutting down what had been a successful 2017 season due to a knee injury, which would ultimately require surgery and months of rehabilitation, Wawrinka made his return to competition at the Australian Open, winning one round before succumbing to Tennys Sandgren in the second. With his feet back on the ground – both literally and figuratively – the Swiss heads to the DIEMA XTRA Sofia Open in search of his next step. “I am feeling much better. Since the first day I came back from Australia I was working really hard physically and also for my tennis....
Stan Wawrinka arrived in Australia unsure that he would be able to play in the Australian Open. So while the 2014 champion fell in the second round to Tennys Sandgren in the first Grand Slam championship of the season, the trip was not all a loss. “I think the past 12 days was more than what I could have dreamt coming here. I really came without thinking I will be able to play the first match,” Wawrinka said. “That's a big step for me.” Just more than five months ago, Wawrinka had two surgeries to repair a knee cartilage injury, the first by arthroscopy to look at the issue, and the next to reconstruct the cartilage. The former World No....
Stan Wawrinka discusses his opening-round victory at the 2018 Australian Open, which was his first competitive match since 2017 Wimbledon. Video courtesy Tennis Australia. Watch more video and live matches at www.ausopen.com.
Watch highlights as former champion Stan Wawrinka battles through to the second round of the 2018 Australian Open. Getty Images photo. Video courtesy Tennis Australia. Watch more video and live matches at www.ausopen.com. Highlights not available in Aus., NZ or Canada and only available in Europe and USA 24 hours after completion of the match.
In his first match for more than six months, Stan Wawrinka, at times, looked his old self, smacking backhand winners and gaining free points behind his serve. But at no point did Wawrinka resemble his three-time Grand Slam champion self more than at the moment when he needed to play his best. In the fourth-set tie-break, the ninth seed sped past Lithuania's Ricardas Berankis, winning seven of nine points to ensure a successful return to Melbourne 6-4, 6-3, 2-6, 7-6(2). “It's great to be back,” said Wawrinka. “It's great to win, for sure. It was a tough one in all aspects of the game but, in general, I'm really happy to get through a match like that. To fight the...
