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TENNIS: AUSTRALIAN OPEN

TENNIS

Wawrinka faces down big-serving Copil

Switzerland's Stan Wawrinka gave the thumbs up for his Australian Open title defence as he defused the big serving Marius Copil to progress to the third round on Thursday.

Published: 22 January 2015 09:17 CET

Wawrinka faces down big-serving Copil

Photo: Paul Crock/AFP

The fourth seed faced down Copil's rockets, including the fastest recorded serve so far this year, clocked at 242 kph (150 mph), on the way to his win in three tight sets.

Wawrinka won 7-6 (7/4), 7-6 (7/4), 6-3 in two hours, 16 minutes and will now play Finnish journeyman Jarkko Nieminen in the seeded round.

Copil kept Wawrinka on his toes with his lively serving and the Swiss needed two tiebreak sets to get the edge over the Romanian.

"It was quite a tough match and happy to get through, especially in three sets," Wawrinka said.

"The condition wasn't easy today. Quite hot. Really fast on the court and he was playing great. He was serving big, putting lots of pressure on me.

"I wasn't playing my best tennis, but I'm happy the way I fight today and win the match."

Wawrinka, who upset Rafael Nadal in last year's Melbourne final to win his maiden Grand Slam title, was satisfied two matches into the tournament.

"Yeah, I'm happy with my game in general," the Lausanne native said.

"To win first two matches in three sets, it's great."

Copil may have been ranked 190 spots below Wawrinka but in the end only four points separated the pair over the course of the match on Margaret Court Arena.

"It was important to take the first tiebreaker and I tried to stay aggressive with my game," Wawrinka said.

"He gave me a few points in the second tiebreaker."

It was far from the perfect match for Wawrinka as he made more unforced errors than winners at 39 to 36.

The Swiss could only get two breaks in seven opportunities on Copil's big serve.

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Is this the end of the road for Swiss tennis legend Roger Federer?

Is it the end of the line for Roger? Photo: Martin BUREAU / AFP

The 20-time Grand Slam winner announced on Wednesday that he would be sidelined until 2021 after his second operation in a matter of months.

Federer remains upbeat, tweeting: “I plan to take the necessary time to be 100 percent ready to play at my highest level.”

In some ways 2020 is a good season to miss after the coronavirus ravaged the tennis schedule. Writing Federer off in the past has proved dangerous.

He returned from a six-month injury lay-off to claim the Australian Open in 2017, winning his eighth Wimbledon crown later that year.

But he will be 40 in 2021 and is now heading into uncharted territory.

Despite his groaning trophy cabinet, there are two factors that will motivate Federer to keep going — the risk of losing his grip on the men's Grand Slam title record and a missing Olympics singles gold medal.

Rafael Nadal has 19 majors, just one shy of Federer's mark and Djokovic has 17.

Spain's Nadal will be fancied to draw level with Federer at the French Open, rescheduled for September, while few would bet against Djokovic winning in New York weeks earlier.

In April, Federer said he was “devastated” when Wimbledon was cancelled for the first time since World War II. Last year he fell agonisingly short at the All England Club, failing to convert two championship points on his own serve against Djokovic.

The Wimbledon grass probably remains his best chance of adding to his Grand Slam collection — he has not won the US Open since 2008 and his only title at Roland Garros came in 2009.

Even though Federer has slipped from the very pinnacle of the game, he is still a major threat to Nadal and Djokovic.

'Golden' ambitions

Last year, the world number four had a 53-10 win-loss record and he reached the semi-finals at the Australian Open in January in his only tournament this year.

Federer, who is still six ATP titles short of Jimmy Connors' all-time record of 109, has one glaring omission from his CV — the Olympic title.

The Swiss won doubles gold in Beijing in 2008 with compatriot Stan Wawrinka but lost in the singles final to Andy Murray in London four years later.

The postponed Tokyo Games will almost certainly be Federer's last opportunity to complete a career “golden” Grand Slam — he will turn 40 on the day of the closing ceremony next year.

Tennis will feel the loss of the elegant Federer keenly when he walks off the court for the last time.

Djokovic and Nadal have been the dominant forces in recent years but the Swiss remains the biggest draw and last month topped Forbes' list of the world's highest-earning athletes.

His last appearance on court was in front of nearly 52,000 fans — touted by organisers as a world record for tennis — at a charity match against Nadal in Cape Town in February.

Federer is nearly always the crowd favourite wherever he plays and has proved a perfect ambassador for the sport since he won his first Grand Slam title in 2003.

He certainly expects to be back and competitive next year.

“I will be missing my fans and the tour dearly but I will look forward to seeing everyone back on tour at the start of the 2021 season,” he tweeted.

The avalanche of support from his adoring fans showed they would miss him too, but they will have to get used to a time when he is gone for good.

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