After Five Hours, Wawrinka Escapes Tsitsipas To Make QF
In one of the matches of the tournament – if not the year – Stan Wawrinka showed he's back.
The 34-year-old Swiss outlasted Greece's #NextGenATP star Stefanos Tsitsipas 7-6(6), 5-7, 6-4, 3-6, 8-6 in five hours and nine minutes on Sunday at Roland Garros, making it the fourth-longest match in Open Era history (since April 1968).
Wawrinka, who missed the second half of the 2017 season because of knee surgeries, is into his first Grand Slam quarter-final since 2017 Roland Garros, when he made his second final in Paris. And he'll face a fellow champion and friend in the last eight as Roger Federer is waiting.
Federer, the 2009 champion, dismissed Argentina's Leonardo Mayer 6-2, 6-3, 6-3 in less than two hours.
Wawrinka and Tsitsipas had never met before, but Court Suzanne-Lenglen quickly became must-see tennis as Wawrinka, 34, and Tsitsipas, 20, battled for more than five hours in an inter-generational matchup that could stand as the match of the tournament and one of the best of the season.
The 2015 Roland Garros champion Wawrinka, nearly two years after undergoing two knee surgeries, was playing his best tennis since going under the knife. After a frustrating start months into his comeback, the Swiss had doubts that he'd ever return to the level that helped him win one Slam in three consecutive years – 2014-2016.
And there was Tsitsipas, the 20-year-old reigning Next Gen ATP Finals champion, eager to push Wawrinka aside and show that the Greek was not only the best of the Next Generation, but ready to overtake a player who has dominated much of the past 10 years.
Tsitsipas stumbled first, double faulting on set point to give Wawrinka the opening set, and the Suzanne-Lenglen crowd roared for their man. It was almost a “home” match for the French-speaking Wawrinka, who beat Novak Djokovic for his 2015 Roland Garros title.
His fans peppered him with adorations. “I love you, Stan!” they'd say in French, or their favourite, “Allez, Stan!”
Wawrinka soaked it in, lifting his arms to encourage the chants and holding his hand to his ear, as if to say, “A little louder, please”.
Tsitsipas, however, didn't stay down long, breaking three times in the second, including in the 12th game, to even the fourth-rounder. At times, the contest was a game of who could first position his forehand against his opponent's backhand and keep pounding away. The down-the-line backhand became a premium.
Wawrinka escaped danger early in the third, erasing three break points, and with momentum at his back, broke Tsitsipas and ran away with the third. But Tsitsipas pushed it to a decider with a break in the sixth game of the fourth set.
The match truly became must-see tennis in the fifth. Thousands of fans around the grounds stopped in their steps, or settled into their deck chairs, and gawked at the big screens. Court Philippe-Chatrier became free access for fans, but there was no mad rush as fans opted instead to stay focused on the fifth set.
Wawrinka saved three break points while serving at 5-5, but his slice backhand pass at 7-6 may haunt Tsitsipas for days. The Greek, charging forward, decided to let it go rather than hit the forehand volley to the open court. The ball landed in, and Wawrinka advanced.
from Tennis - ATP World Tour http://bit.ly/2Xove6y
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