MONACO – Kazakhstan’s Alexander Bublik defeated Switzerland’s Stan Wawrinka 3-6, 7-5, 6-2 in the first round of the Monte Carlo Masters in Monaco, spoiling Wawrinka’s first competitive appearance in more than a year.
Wawrinka, 37, had not played on the ATP Tour since March 2021 due to a left foot injury. He underwent surgery and suffered a setback during his rehab, postponing his return until this week.
“I think the body’s getting much better,” Wawrinka said after the match according to Reuters.
“I’m still far away from where I want to be, but I think I’m (going in) the right direction. I think it was a positive match. It was a tough loss, of course, but I’m happy with the way I was playing.
Wawrinka, who slipped to No. 236 in the world rankings after once being as high as No. 3, won four of the last five games of the first set to jump ahead of Bublik.
Down 5-4 in the second set, he saved three Bublik set points and leveled the set 5-all before Bublik took over.
Bublik smashed 14 aces but committed 11 double faults while winning 35 of 42 first-service points (83.3 per cent).
Wawrinka had four aces without a double fault but only won 33 of 53 first-service points (62.3 per cent).
It was Wawrinka’s first tour-level appearance since Doha last year. The Swiss competed in an ATP Challenger Tour event in Marbella two weeks ago to begin his comeback from two left foot surgeries, and he is still rounding into form, both in terms of his tennis and his fitness.
“I knew coming here that I’m not physically and tennis-wise ready. I wanted to play a few matches with the Challenger two weeks ago. Now we are practising with the top guys to get my level a bit better,” Wawrinka said.
“But I knew and I didn’t expect to play already the way I want to play, so I knew it would be difficult. As I said, I think it was much better than what I was expecting.
“I was playing better, feeling better on the court of course physically, tennis-wise, and also I spent a lot of mental energy to focus, to stay there as it was tough at the end. But again, I’m happy with what I have done.”
Wawrinka is a 16-time tour-level titlist who has won some of the world’s biggest tournaments, including the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters in 2014. But the 37-year-old admitted he was not expecting to show up in Monaco and lift the trophy. Pushing Bublik to three sets was a positive for him.
“It’s a lot better than I ever thought I could do today. Of course I’m aware that I’m not ready physically, mentally, [tennis-wise]. I didn’t play a lot of tennis at all before I’m here,” Wawrinka said. “So I am trying to catch up because I had the goal to come back to competition maybe too quickly, but it was important mentally to know I was going to play two tournaments, Marbella, here, to be able to practise with the best players, to play against them, and to find the emotions that I missed so much.”
With this experience under his belt, Wawrinka will now return to training and discuss with his team how they will approach the coming weeks. He does not know the tournament at which he will compete next.
“What I need is to have a programme that allows me when I get to the next tournament to feel that I’m ready,” Wawrinka said. “So I will take the time I need, and when I will be ready, I will play another tournament.”
For now, Wawrinka is pleased to have once again competed on one of the sport’s biggest stages. More than ever, he appreciates these moments.
“I did this rehabilitation during more than a year just to be able to step onto courts like this one, to be in a tournament like this with the crowd, with the atmosphere, the emotions, and the thrill that you can feel with the stress, also,” Wawrinka said. “All this is the reason why I’m playing, and it was very enjoyable.”
The four seeded players in action all won, though three required a third set. No. 9 seed Jannik Sinner of Italy beat Croatia’s Borna Coric 6-3, 2-6, 6-3.
Sinner stayed in the fight by saving seven of nine break points while winning 39 of 50 first-service points (78.0 per cent).
“It was a tough match because first time on clay after quite a while, it’s never easy,” Sinner said.
“So I’m very happy about my performance, even if it was not my best. I think at the end of the match I raised my level, which for me was important.”
No. 13 seed Pablo Carreno Busta od Spain outlasted Argentina’s Sebastian Baez 6-4, 4-6, 6-2.
And 12th seed Diego Schwartzman of Argentina won a marathon over Russia’s Karen Khachanov 6-7 (5), 6-3, 6-3 in a match that lasted three hours and seven minutes.
No. 11 seed Hubert Hurkacz of Poland had a slightly easier time, winning 7-5, 6-4 over Bolivian Hugo Dellien.
In his debut at Monte Carlo, American Sebastian Korda took down Botic van de Zandschulp of the Netherlands 7-5, 6-4. Korda hit five aces and broke his opponent’s serve five times in seven opportunities.
Other first-round winners included Croatia’s Marin Cilic, Australia’s Alex de Minaur, Argentina’s Federico Delbonis, Spain’s Albert Ramos-Vinolas and Italy’s Fabio Fognini, the 2019 Monte Carlo champion.
