STAN WAWRINKA RAISES HIS LEVEL TO STAY IN SEMIFINAL CONTENTION AT BARCLAYS ATP WORLD TOUR FINALS

Written by: Staff on 16th November 2016

STAN WAWRINKA RAISES HIS LEVEL TO STAY IN SEMIFINAL CONTENTION AT BARCLAYS ATP WORLD TOUR FINALS

epa05634250 Switzerland's Stan Wawrinka reacts after winning a point against Marin Cilic of Croatia during their singles group stage match at the ATP World Tour Finals tennis tournament at the O2 Arena in London, Britain, 16 November 2016. EPA/HAYOUNG JEON |

By Ricky Dimon

Facing a must-win situation in order to keep his semifinal hopes alive at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals, Stan Wawrinka looked like a different player from the one who had been on display in his tournament opener. Wawrinka bounced back from a blowout loss to Kei Nishikori by battling past Marin Cilic 7-6(3), 7-6(3) on Wednesday night. The Swiss struck seven aces without double-faulting and finished with 21 winners as he prevailed in one hour and 58 minutes.

Croatia’s Marin Cilic returns the ball to Switzerland’s Stan Wawrinka during their men’s singles match at the ATP World Tour finals tennis tournament at the O2 Arena in London, Britain, 16 November 2016. EPA/WILL OLIVER

Cilic was not without chances. The seventh-ranked Croat had a set point in the opener with Wawrinka serving at 4-5, 30-40, but he shanked a backhand return. Cilic also led 2-0 in the second after breaking the world No. 3 right off the bat, but he was broken back at 2-1.

In a showdown that featured consistently huge hitting from the baseline, Wawrinka had all the answers when it mattered most in the two tiebreakers.

“(It) was a great match,” Wawrinka said. “I’m really happy with the way I played in general. (It) was a tough match, for sure. In general, I think the level was really high. I’m happy with many things tonight–the way I was mentally on the court, the way I was moving…. I think I was moving great. I had some good defense (in) some long rallies. It’s a great victory for me.”

“I think overall I was playing quite well from the back when the ball was in play,” Cilic commented. “I obviously had a little bit of trouble on my first serve. On the return, I was missing quite a lot of returns on the second serve. That was not giving me a chance to get in the rallies, especially as I felt that I was playing quite, quite good. In both sets I played pretty good tennis.”

Switzerland’s Stan Wawrinka returns the ball against Croatia’s Marin Cilic during their men’s singles match at the ATP World Tour finals tennis tournament at the O2 Arena in London, Britain, 16 November 2016. EPA/WILL OLIVER

Had Cilic won, Wawrinka would have been eliminated, Andy Murray would have clinched the No. 1 seed out of Group A, and Cilic would have gone head-to-head with Nishikori on Friday for a place in the semis. Now the scenarios are just about wide open heading into the foursome’s final day of round-robin action, although Cilic cannot qualify for the semis regardless of the outcomes. He would have remained alive if he had managed to take even one set off Wawrinka.

The situations is much clearer in Group A of the doubles competition. Henri Kontinen and John Peers took care of Raven Klaasen and Rajeev Ram 6-3, 6-4 on Wednesday afternoon to improve their London record to 2-0. They clinched the top spot among the quartet when Feliciano Lopez and Marc Lopez defeated Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut 7-5, 5-7, 10-8 in the nightcap.

Lopez and Lopez are now 1-1 along with Klaasen and Ram, and those two teams will clash on Friday with a semifinal spot at stake. Herbert and Mahut have been mathematically eliminated.