Stan Wawrinka came back from a set down to defeat 18-year-old sensation Borna Coric, 3-6, 7-6(3), 6-3 at the Western and Southern Open in Cincinnati, but the post-match buzz was still focused squarely on last week’s widely publicized sledge from Nick Kyrgios.
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Stan Wawrinka accused Aussie bad boy Nick Kyrgios of failing to properly apologise for his lurid outburst towards the Swiss star here Wednesday after struggling into the third round of the ATP Cincinnati Masters event. Wawrinka produced 40 winners and 52 unforced errors as he moved into the third round against another Croatian, Ivo Karlovic. “It’s been some tough days for some people, and it’s always hard to completely focus on the tennis court”.
Kyrgios made worldwide headlines last week after crude remarks concerning Wawrinka’s reported girlfriend, teenager Donna Vekic, during a match against the Swiss ace in Montreal.
And asked if he was happy that Kyrgios had done what he should have done in the circumstances afterwards and apologised to all the people involved in the matter, he replied: “Uh, he didn’t apologise, so no. But I prefer not to talk about him thank you”. “I had a lot of support in the locker room, that’s for sure”, he said.
Wawrinka did not hear the comment at the time, only learning later that it had been audible on television.
The fourth seed didn’t take control until he broke Coric’s serve in the sixth game of the third set and then held for a 5-2 lead before serving out the match.
Wawrinka, who is divorcing Ilham Vuilloud, his wife of six years, insisted however that the ugly controversy would not derail his preparations for the US Open.
On Wednesday night, a courtside microphone picked up Kyrgios saying that fellow Australian player Thanasi Kokkinakis had slept with a player who is reportedly Wawrinkas girlfriend.
“I don’t really know”. I know how I deal with everything. Gasquet defeated the qualifier 7-6 (7/5), 6-2 to next play US Open champion Marin Cilic. “For me it’s a really important match today to win it. Not the way I play, not the way I am on the court, but the way I fight with little energy that I have. But most important is the win”.
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Defending champion Roger Federer cruised into the quarter-finals with a 6-1, 6-1 demolition of South African Kevin Anderson on an otherwise tough day for the top seeds that saw Rafael Nadal eliminated by Spain’s Feliciano Lopez 5-7, 6-4, 7-6 (7-3).
