TENNIS ATP BASEL – Mikhail Kukushkin upset Stan Wawrinka in three sets with 6-4 6-7 (1-7) 6-3 in the first round of the Suisse Open at the St. Jackobhalle in Basel. It’s the third time in a row after Tokyo and Shanghai that Wawrinka lost in the first round. Diego Sampaolo
Mikhail Kukushkin is on fire in this period of the year. After playing a good third round match against Novak Djokovic and reaching the semifinal in Moscow, the Kazakh player won the first set with 6-4 after the match was interrupted for half an hour due to fluctuations in the power grid caused by gale-force winds outside the St. Jackobhalle.
Kukushkin was unstoppable on serve in the first set where Wawrinka won just four points on Kukushkin’s serve. On the contrary Wawrinka made 23 unforced errors.
Wawrinka came within two points of winning the second set at 5-4 at deuce while Kukushkin was serving. Kukushkin could not convert a break point chance in the 10th game. The second second set came down to the tie-break where Wawrinka prevailed with 7-1 forcing the match to the third set.
Kukushkin broke serve en route to cruising to 3-0 in the decider. Wawrinka broke back to draw level to 3-3 but he dropped serve in the eighth game to fall behind 3-5 after a double fault. Kukushkin sealed the win after 2 hours and 13 minutes.
Kukushkin converted four of his ten break point chances. He will take on German Benjamin Becker who cruised past Portuguese wild-card Gaston Elias with 6-3 6-2.
Milos Raonic, who is currently ranked 10th in the ATP Race to London and is bidding to a qualify for the ATP Finals in London, saved all five break points he faced and hit 12 aces to seal a 7-6 (7-4) 6-4 win over US Steve Johnson. Raonic broke serve for the first time in the match in the 10th game of the first set. He set up a second round match against US Donald Young.
Ivan Dodig battled past Swiss wild card Marco Chiudinelli in three sets with 6-4 6-7 (7-9) 6-4
Croatian big server Ivo Karlovic hit 21 aces to take a 7-6 6-3 win over Lukas Rosol. Kenny De Schepper from France overcame Federico Delbonis from Argentina with 7-6 (7-3) 7-5
Roger Federer will make his debut in his home tournament tournament against Gilles Muller tomorrow. Federer reached the final in Basel ten times and won the Suisse Open title five times. He finished runner.up to Juan Martin Del Potro in the past two years. He made his main draw debut in Basel as a 17-year-old player against André Agassi in 1998.
“I have played here so many times. I know how the court feels. I played here for the first time in 1997 as a qualifier and I came back in 1998 when I played against André Agassi as a 17-year-old. It was quite a great experience. I came back so many times and I played ten finals and I know how I get the job done. There is home advantage but at the same time pressure always gets to you. I am really excited to be back on the centre court in Basel. It’s a nice feeling being back in the arena where I have had so much success. I feel the home support from the crowd cheering me on. I played solid tennis this year and I have good tennis left in me for this week”, said Federer at the press conference on the eve of his debut
Federer is currently ranked second in the Race to London 990 points behind Novak Djokovic. He could close the gap to 490 points if he wins the Suisse Open for the sixth time in his career.
“I hope to start of well in Basel. That I have got so close to Number 1 is a bit of a surprise because I have not won a Slam but I was extremely close at Wimbledon and I have been consistent throughout”
