Three-time grand slam champion Stan Wawrinka is eager to end 2018 on a high note as he continues his resurgence on the tour following injury.
The former world No.3 returned to competitive tennis in February after undergoing surgery on his left knee. Wawrinka’s comeback has been far from smooth. He was forced to miss a further three months between February and May due undergo further rehabilitation. Eventually he dropped out of the world’s top 250 in July.
Despite the setbacks, Wawrinka is gaining in momentum . At the Cincinnati Open he reached the quarter-finals before falling to compatriot Roger Federer. Then at the US Open he knocked out eighth seed Grigor Dimitrov in the first round. Making it the second consecutive grand slam where he has defeated the Bulgarian.
“I think in general I’m playing really well,” Wawrinka told atpworldtour.com. “I think it’s getting there. I think I need to keep being patient, keep working really hard and well outside the matches because I know I need to keep doing the right things for the end of the year, try to gain some confidence and we’ll see what happens.”
This week Wawrinka is playing at the St Petersburg Open in Russia after being granted a wild card. The 2016 runner-up kick-started his campaign on Monday with a tricky straight sets win over Alize Bedene. Winning 72% of his first service points and saving four out of the five break points he faced.
Approaching the final stages of the 2018 season, Wawrinka is targeting a strong finish. He has finished every season ranked in the world’s top 50 since 2006. Wawrinka is currently at a ranking of 88th.
“My goals are to finish this year well, I have a few more tournaments to play. I’ll keep working outside matches, I’ll keep pushing myself, keep trying to improve tennis-wise, physically. Also, I want to finish a good year and get a chance to do the right preparation, right offseason, push myself to be 100 per cent ready for the beginning of [next] year and then we’ll see,” he said.
“I never really put a goal of ranking, winning tournaments, things like that. I put a goal to do the right things day by day, because that’s the way I know that the results will follow.”
In Russia, Wawrinka will take on fourth seed Karen Khachanov in the second round on Wednesday. A win will move him into his fourth ATP quarter-final of the season.
