Italian Open 2023: Veteran Stan Wawrinka cruises to first round win

The Swiss player earned his 12th tour-level victory of the year by making wide cuts at the ball from both wings, hitting 26 winners while avoiding one break point.

Stanislas Wawrinka in a file photo. (Image Credits: twitter)
By Nilavro Ghosh | May 10, 2023 | 3 Min Read follow icon Follow Us

The Internazionali BNL d’Italia has Stan Wawrinka in action and he has hit the ground running. The former World No. 3 advanced past Ilya Ivashka 6-2, 6-4 on Wednesday at the ATP Masters 1000 event in Rome, where he was making his 18th appearance, to reach the second round for the 13th time. Throughout the 78-minute match on Centre Court, the 38-year-old maintained control. The Swiss player earned his 12th tour-level victory of the year by making wide cuts at the ball from both wings, hitting 26 winners while avoiding one break point.

“I was ready for it. I am playing well. It was a good first match and I am really happy to get through again,” Wawrinka said. “I have been working hard to get to this level. This year I am playing much better, but I need to win more matches. That is what I am missing a bit, the confidence to win more matches. But in general the level is great.”

This week marks Wawrinka’s 119th appearance at an ATP Masters 1000 tournament, tying him for seventh most all-time. He is the oldest player in the Rome draw. His best performance in Rome occurred in 2008, when he lost to Novak Djokovic in the championship match. Wawrinka’s ATP Head2Head series against Ivashka is now tied at one point. He will now play Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria. In other news, Argentine Tomas Martin Etcheverry defeated French tennis player Luca Van Assche 7-6(7), 6-3 to set up a second-round match against Novak Djokovic.

Read More – Italian Open 2023: Preview, Where to watch, Dates, Schedule, Seeds, Live Streaming details

After two hours and five minutes, Etcheverry, who is competing for the first time in Rome, came back from 0-3 in the second set to win. The 23-year-old advanced to clay tour-level finals in Santiago and Houston earlier this season. Additionally, Marton Fucsovics defeated Filip Krajinovic 6-4, 6-2, and Sebastian Baez defeated Juan Pablo Varillas 7-5, 6-3 to advance.

What is the Italian Open?

The Italian Open, formerly known as the Italian International Championships, is a tennis competition held in Rome, Italy. With the men’s competition being an ATP Tour Masters 1000 event on the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) tour and the women’s competition technically being a WTA 1000 event on the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) tour, it is one of the most significant clay tennis tournaments in the world. In 2011, the two occasions were combined. On clay courts, the competition is currently held the second week of May. The competition is additionally known as the “Rome Masters” for men’s edition and the “Internazionali BNL d’Italia” sponsored name. A record ten times, Rafael Nadal has won the men’s singles championship.

Count Alberto Bonacossa founded the Italian tennis championship, which was first played in 1930 in Milan at the Tennis Club. Bill Tilden and Lilvarez took first place in the singles competition at the tournament. Up until 1934, the championships were held in Milan. The celebration was moved to Rome’s Foro Italico the following year, in 1935. Between 1936 and 1949, there was no edition. In 1950, the competition was restarted. The 1961 competition took place at the Sporting Club in Turin.

The ATP calendar for the upcoming year underwent some changes, which were announced in June 2022. Beginning in 2023, the ATP Masters 1000 events in Rome, Shanghai, and Madrid will all be spread out over two weeks, making them 12-day events like the Masters 1000 competitions in Indian Wells and Miami.





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