The Italian Open crowd on Thursday witnessed the end of the Swiss star Stan Wawrinka’s incredible run in the event as he fell to world no.1 Novak Djokovic in straight sets. The Serbian star went past Wawrinka with ease and in the post-match speech, Djokovic had too many good things to say about one of his great rivals. 

Novak Djokovic praises Stan Wawrinka’s incredible run at the Italian Open 

Many fans were hoping for a tremendous match-up between the Serb and the Swiss star just like they had in the past. An hour and 15 minutes later, it was Novak who got the better off Wawrinka as he eased past him, 6-2,6-2. 

After the match, Novak talked about Wawrinka’s incredible run at the Rome Masters. In addition, he spoke of the Swiss player’s incredible game despite not feeling 100 percent. “It is great to see Stan back and winning. He won two tough matches. You can see he is still not physically where he wants to be. But nevertheless, he is Stan Wawrinka and he can hurt you if you give him time.”

Read More: ‘He’s Probably Put a Few More Years of Work and Training Into Tennis Than I Have’ – Emma Raducanu on Her Comparison to Carlos Alcaraz

The 20-time Grand Slam champion also spoke in detail about how he beat the Swiss player. 

“I managed to do well from the beginning. I really moved him around the court and held my serve comfortably except for that loss of my serve in the second set.”

Notably, Wawrinka made his return earlier at the Marbella Challenger after missing out on action for almost a year and half. Due to surgery on his foot, he had to go through rehab before picking up his racket again. Since returning from injury, he had a winless run. A few days ago, Stan managed to win his first match against the American Reilly Opelka in a tight, three-set encounter.

Novak to face a difficult opponent in the next match 

In the quarter-finals at Rome, Novak will now face the no.8 seed Felix Auger Aliassime. Fans are already gearing up to see an intense battle between the two.

Will we see Novak Djokovic winning the Italian Open this year? Let us know in the comments.

Watch This Story: Hilarious episodes of Novak Djokovic’s career