Defending champion Stan Wawrinka has kicked-off his campaign at the Geneva Open with a 6-3, 6-4, win over Jared Donaldson in the second round on Wednesday.
The three-time grand slam champion, who receive a bye in the first round, is only playing in his second clay tournament of the year. Missing two months of competitive tennis earlier this year due to a recurrence of a knee injury. Despite his recent absence from the tour, the Swiss third seed eased past his American rival by winning 81% of his first service points and converting two out of his six break point opportunities.
“I am very, very satisfied. Especially after having lived so many months of hardship after my operations.” Wawrinka said after the match. “I felt good on this court. It was important to be perfectly focused. I had to play in a simple way, without asking too many questions. But it was just a win, and it’s been a long time since I played two matches in two days.”
Wawrinka, who hasn’t won a match on the tour since the Sofia Open in February, broke once in each set to end the dry spell. Frustrating the American world No.57, who himself has only won one match on the clay heading into the French Open. Racing through the opening set in just 28 minutes, Wawrinka got another breakthrough midway through the second. At 3-3, a clean backhand winner down the line awarded him the break for a set and 4-3 lead. From then on, the 33-year-old strolled towards the finish line. Converting his first match point with a lob shot that triggered an error from Donaldson.
In the quarter-finals on Thursday, Wawrinka will take on Marton Fucsovics. The Hungarian knocked out Frances Tiafoe 7-6(5), 6-4, to record his 19th main draw win this season. It will be the first meeting between the two players on the tour.
Elsewhere at the tournament, Fabio Fognini dodged a shock loss to Noah Rubin. The Italian dropped the opening set against the world No.204 before fighting back to win 6-7(5), 6-2, 6-2. Despite the blip, Fognini only dropped his serve once in the match and broke Rubin five times in total. He will take on Tennys Sandgren in the next round.
Andreas Seppi, who could potentially face Fognini in the semifinals, progressed with a 7-5, 6-3, win over Bernabé Zapata Miralles. Meanwhile, Peter Gojowczyk knocked out fourth seed David Ferrer in straight sets.
