Stan Wawrinka of Switzerland in action against Borna Coric of Croatia during their second-round match at the Western & Southern Open at the Linder Family Tennis Center in Mason, near Cincinnati, Ohio, yesterday.
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Then Wawrinka found himself, mentally and physically, and rallied to win the final two sets, 7-6 (3), 6-3, and advance to the third round against Ivo Karlovic.
Coric jumped on both of his break point chances in the opener to take the first set 6-3.
Australian bad boy Nick Kyrgios fired back at Stan Wawrinka on Thursday over suggestions that he had not apologised for his lurid outburst at the tennis star.
Kyrgios triggered widespread revulsion for his on-court taunt to Wawrinka last week that fellow Aussie Thanasi Kokkinakis had had a fling with WTA professional Vekic.
Since then he’s been dealing with the fallout that resulted from some disparaging remarks made by Kyrgios towards Wawrinka’s girlfriend.
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”.
“Honestly, I’ve had a lot of support…a lot of anger in the locker room for what he did”.
“I know how myself, I know how I get ready for a Grand Slam”.
“Yeah, for sure I was struggling today to be completely on the court and to fight the way I wanted and everything”, said Wawrinka. I know how I deal with everything.
“It was really important to win this match today”.
While Australia boasts a rich history of quality players, including Rod Laver, Ken Rosewell, Pat Rafter and Margaret Court, Lleyton Hewitt was also a loose cannon in his youth, once labelling match officials at the French Open “spastic”.
“I’m sure I’m going to be ready for US Open“, said Wawrinka.
Although it was not immediately clear that Wawrinka heard the comment, he later responded on Twitter and told reporters that he had confronted Kyrgios in the changing rooms after the match.
Kyrgios, who made a quick exit at this tournament with a 6-2, 6-1 loss to No. 12 seed Richard Gasquet in the first round, has apologized on social media but his efforts so far haven’t met Wawrinka’s acceptance.
Jerzy Janowicz beat wild card Jared Donaldson 6-4, 7-6 (4).
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Wawrinka was joined as a victor by top seed Novak Djokovic, who beat Benoit Paire 7-5, 6-2, ending just before rain interrupted play.
