The former World No. 3, Stan Wawrinka, fell short in his 2nd-round match at the Australian Open. The Swiss star fell victim to Hungary’s Marton Fucsovics in a battle that lasted for 4 hours. The match went the distance and ended in Marton’s favor, who won 7-5 6-1 4-6 2-6 7-6. 

In their previous meetings, Wawrinka lost the first time they played against each other but emerged victorious in their last 3 encounters.

Both Stan Wawrinka and Marton Fucsovics served effectively during the match. Although the 35-year-old hit 49 winners, it was the 73 unforced errors that proved to be his undoing. 

Stan Wawrinka: “Always a tough match and today was the same”

After the match, Stan reflected on his missed opportunities and stated, “Yeah, tough match, of course, I said four hours. Always been a difficult battle against my opponent, we played a few times in the past, always a tough match, and today was the same.

“It wasn’t the best level for me but again I was fighting, I had some chance to finish the match but I didn’t finish. I hesitated a little when I had the match point and I lost it.”

Wawrinka also opened up about the situation in the final set tiebreaker in detail. He was not being able to execute his shotmaking when it mattered most. Due to that, the Hungarian sensed an opportunity and brought himself back into the match. 

The 3-time Grand Slam winner added, “I was playing well since the game at 5-6, I was serving well and super focused in the tie break at the end, and from 6-1 I started to hesitate a little bit.

“The way I was playing, I wanted to put the ball a bit too much in… helped him come back into the match. He was fighting well, he is a tough player and a good one and deserved to win.” 

Over the years, Wawrinka has displayed top-quality tennis at this event. However, Stan’s Australian stint came to a premature end this season.

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