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Wawrinka prevails over Croatian in Cincinnati

Roland Garros tennis champion Stan Wawrinka rallied to tame teenaged Croatian Borna Coric 3-6, 7-6 (7/3), 6-3 as Australian Thanasi Kokkinakis lost in the second round of the Cincinnati Western and Southern Open on Wednesday.

Published: 19 August 2015 22:24 CEST

Wawrinka prevails over Croatian in Cincinnati

Switzerland's Stan Wawrinka in action on Wednesday. Photo: Maddie Meyer/Getty Images North America/AFP

The fifth-seeded Swiss dropped the opening set on a day when play began an hour late due to rain, but quickly began gathering his resources in the second set.

With the Lausanne native levelling at a set apiece against his 18-year-old opponent, Wawrinka took control, breaking for 4-2 in the third set on his way to victory in two and a quarter hours.

The winner notched 16 aces but broke on only one of his seven chances.

Wawrinka produced 40 winners and 52 unforced errors as he moved into the third round against another Croatian, Ivo Karlovic.

French 12th seed Richard Gasquet completed this week's demolition of the Australian young guns as he backed up a win over Nick Kyrgios with victory over Kokkinakis.

Gasquet defeated the qualifier 7-6 (7/5), 6-2 to next play US Open champion Marin Cilic.

Pole Jerzy Janowicz advanced over American Jared Donaldson 6-4, 7-6 (7/4).

In the women's second round, Italian Karin Knapp beat Russian hopeful Daria Gavrilova 6-4, 6-1 while former number one Jelena Jankovic left American Madison Keys a tearful wreck during and after a 7-6 (7/4), 6-4 second-round win.

Keys was seen sobbing at mid-match during a coaching conference with Lindsay Davenport and was again caught after the loss with her face buried in a towel in a busy hallway outside the locker room.

The 19th-ranked Keys has won just two matches since achieving a Wimbledon quarterfinal.

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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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