French David and Fed Cup team skipper Yannick Noah has asked that players connect to the crowd more in games. He fingered Swiss star Stan Wawrinka as a player that should develop in this regard.
Wawrinka won the 2015 Roland Garros but he faces a tougher task this year with the form of RafaNadal, NovalDjokovic’s clay dominance, Roger Federer’s comeback and Andy Murray’s consistency.
“He should relax a little bit. When he won a few years ago he had some bad shorts like if he had to go on the beach. It only missed the mouthpiece and it would have been great! No really, it wasn’t so great. Stan needs to make an effort and get closer to the crowd. Do something man,” the 1983 Roland Garros winner advised. Read more »
Grand slam winner Stanislas Wawrinka has been knocked out of the Dubai Tennis Championship.
The second seed returned to the sport after a knee injury threat that forced him to pull out from the Rotterdam Open. He faced world no. 77 Damir Dzumhur but he lost 7-6 (7-4), 6-3.
Since his frustrating semi final loss to eventual winner and compatriot Roger Federer, the Swiss was playing his first game. He was inconsistent in his performance due to his rustiness, which the Bosnia international took advantage of. Dzumhur’s victory will now set him up against Spain international Marcel Granollers in the next stage.
In other games, Federer cruised past Benoit Paire. Roberto Bautista, Lucas Rouille and Dan Evans also qualified from round one. Evans – a top three star in Britain – defeated Dustin Brown but he would meet French star Gael Monfils, who ended Egypt international Mohammed Safwat’s run in the Middle East. Read more »
The next edition of the Davis Cup will begin next year, on February 3.
The 2017 edition of the competition, which would be the 106th so far, may not feature the likes of Stanislas Wawrinka, who wants to focus his energy on the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) calendar.
The Tennis star will prefer to focus more on winning individual trophies than combining with the rest of the Swiss team for the 2017 Davis Cup. He therefore reiterates that his focus will be more on ensuring he has a successful season next year.
Wawrinka had an uneven pitch on the courts but came off with wins in four tournaments a total of 46 wins and 18 losses, including in the US Open title.
In an interview for a local media, Wawrinka had said,
“Right now Davis Cup is not one of my priorities. As I see it, it will be difficult to take part in that tournament.”
The first round of the Silver Bowl, which will commence on from February 3-5, will feature the Swiss side before their United States counterpart. Read more »
After having a torrid time playing hard court tournaments off late, Stanislas Wawrinka hopes to get his bike back on track on clay.
Wawrinka has suffered early knocking off in BNP Paribas as well as Miami Open and that has left him completely ruffled. His confidence is shattered.
But, the good thing for him is that the action on the tour is going to shift on Clay surfaces now where he thrives.
He has been alright on hard courts too over the last few years, but, Clay remains his favourite.
The ongoing season kicked off on a good note for Wawrinka with him clinching Chennai Open and making it to the Round of 4 at Melbourne Park. He won in Rotterdam too. But, he lost the form from there on in.
When asked about his recent disappointing outings, Wawrinka said, “It’s been tough couple of tournaments for me. I never felt I was in any kind of rhythm. I was just going through the motions and it was the case not only in games, but, in training as well.” Read more »
The first Slam title of his career would be the highlight surely, but, there are a couple of other big things too which he did during the year.
First of all, the Davis Cup victory that he tasted. There can nothing be more satisfactory for a sportsperson than to be able to win a trophy for his country.
Wawrinka was in the Swiss national team that beat France in the final tie of the Davis Cup to win it for the first time ever.
It was a joyous day for the tennis lovers in Switzerland as they celebrated the historical achievement of the team in a grand way and of course for Wawrinka too, it would have been a very emotional moment to lift that trophy. Read more »
May 16, 2017 8:10 am | 