Stan Wawrinka said a bout of sickness disrupted his preparations for the clay swing after coming through a roller-coaster opening match at the Monte Carlo Masters.
Wawrinka, who won his first and only Masters title in Monte Carlo nine years ago, battled to a 5-7, 6-3, 6-4, win over Tallon Griekspoor who actually won more points in the match than the Swiss player (103-102). The former world No.3 saved 10 out of the 12 break points he faced before eventually sealing the win on his sixth match point. Overall he hit 35 winners alongside 35 unforced errors.
“It was really important to stay calm with myself,” Wawrinka said during his on-court interview. “I wasn’t playing my best tennis but in the first round, you need to find your game. Your first match on clay is never easy against a good player. I’m happy to get through that one. It was important to fight until the end.”
The 38-year-old is the oldest player in this year’s tournament and has won a total of 22 matches there in his career. Out of the Masters 1000 events, Wawrinka has only won more matches in Rome (24) and Indian Wells (27).
Preparations for the 2023 clay swing haven’t gone to plan for Wawrinka who was forced to pull out of the Estoril Open last week due to recovery from illness.
“After Indian Wells, I got really sick for ten days. I wanted to get ready for the clay earlier but due to being sick I had to delay my start,” he explained. “I would have loved to play in Estoril but I decided to take one more week of practice in Monaco.”
Wawrinka’s win has set him up with a showdown against Taylor Fritz who cracked the world’s top five for the first time earlier this year. He leads their head-to-head 2-0 but their last meeting on the Tour was back in 2018 at the Japan Open in Tokyo.
“H’e amazing player who is improving a lot,” the three-time major winner said of Fritz. “He has won a lot of matches and he is really dangerous on any surface. I think the way he is playing is always dangerous and I will have to play better than I did today.”
As for Griekspoor, his poor run at Masters 1000 events continues. The Dutchman has won one main draw match in this category which was against Guido Pella (ranked No.739 at the time) at the 2023 Indian Wells Open.
Also through to the second round in Monte Carlo is Francisco Cerundolo who hit 24 winners during his 6-3, 6-4, win over 11th seed Cameron Norrie.