Stan storms past Frances Tiafoe, enters Round of 16 in Cincinnati
"It's been probably the best match of the season, I think the most complete match. I was feeling good, moving well, serving well, being aggressive, staying with him, fighting
Stan Wawrinka (Photo: Western & Southern Open/ X)
CINCINNATI: Three-time Grand Slam champion Stan Wawrinka powered past home favourite Frances Tiafoe at the Western and Southern Open in Cincinnati. The Swiss wild card overpowered from the baseline in a 6-3, 6-4 triumph against the 10th-seeded American, clinching an emphatic upset in match that lasted for one hour and 18 minutes.
"It's been probably the best match of the season, I think the most complete match. I was feeling good, moving well, serving well, being aggressive, staying with him, fighting. I'm super happy and hopefully I can keep playing that well," ATP quoted Wawrinka as saying. The win is Wawrinka's second over a Top 10 opponent this season, with the first coming against Holger Rune at Indian Wells.
Wawrinka, the oldest player in the Cincinnati men's singles draw at 38, is the third oldest player in ATP Masters 1000 history (since 1990) to reach the Round of 16, trailing only Ivo Karlovic's two such performances. The win also moved the Swiss up four places into the Top 50 in the ATP Live Rankings at No. 47. Swiss wild card will next face qualifier Max Purcell in Round of 16 clash.
For much of the evening, the Swiss commanded from the baseline wing, and even when Tiafoe took the upper hand in the exchanges, the picture-perfect groundstroke was a tremendous equaliser. Tiafoe trailed for the majority of the match, dropping service early in both sets. Wawrinka won 96 percent (23/24) of his first-serve points, assisted by 11 aces, while hammering his opponent's second serve for a 67 percent (20/30) victory percentage.
The Swiss star won all six of his net approaches and concluded the match with 22 wins to only 10 unforced errors. Next up for Wawrinka is a meeting with wild card Purcell on Thursday. The Aussie was a 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 winner against fifth seed Casper Ruud earlier on Wednesday. "I watched him play. He's a really good player. He's coming in this year, he's winning a lot of matches.
He played well last week. He's beating top players, he beat Ruud today. It's going to be a super interesting match," Wawrinka said of the World No. 70. "We never played each other, we never practised against each other. He's a dangerous player so again I will have to play my best tennis to win," he added.