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Wawrinka battles into fourth round in Melbourne

Former winner Stan Wawrinka lost his serve twice trying to close out the match before he clinched a four-set victory over Viktor Troicki to reach the Australian Open fourth round on Friday.

Published: 20 January 2017 11:05 CET

Wawrinka battles into fourth round in Melbourne

File photo: Glyn Kirk/AFP

The Swiss fourth seed dropped the opening set but he recovered and was cruising to victory before Troicki forced him into a fourth-set tiebreaker.

Wawrinka needed three match points before completing a 3-6, 6-2, 6-2, 7-6 (9/7) victory over the 29th-seeded Serb in two hours, 32 minutes on Rod Laver Arena.

“It was close. Tough tiebreak for sure. Served twice for the match. Doesn't happen often,” Wawrinka said.

“But it's not a big deal. At the end I won in four sets. I'm still here. I know I'm playing well, playing better and better.”

Wawrinka maintained his 100 percent record against Troicki, winning all eight of their matches with the loss of only three sets to the Serb.

“It's never easy to play against him. I had some tough battles, like today, four sets,” he said.

“But in general, I enjoy playing his game. I can control quite well the game. If I serve well, I know I have a big chance.”

The Swiss broke Troicki's service seven times and gave up his own serve five times.

Wawrinka, who beat Rafael Nadal in the 2014 Australian Open final, will face Andreas Seppi in the last 16 after the experienced Italian got past Belgium's Steve Darcis in four sets.

Wawarinka said he felt confident in his game heading into the business end of the tournament.

“I know I'm playing really well on the practice court. I playing a good part of the match today okay,” he said.

“But again, what's important is to keep winning.

“It doesn't matter the way you're playing, especially at the beginning of a Grand Slam. But I just know that my level is there, so I'm not worried.”

It was the fifth straight year Wawrinka has reached the fourth round in Melbourne, and comes after earlier wins over Slovak Martin Klizan and American Steve Johnson.

Last year as the fourth seed, Wawrinka fell to Milos Raonic over five sets in the round of 16.

Wawrinka is chasing his fourth Grand Slam title after his other wins at the 2015 French Open and last year's US Open.

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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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