Croatia’s Borna Coric reacts after defeating Austin Krajicek of USA in their Chennai Open second-round match on Wednesday. Coric won 6-2, 7-5. — PTI
The famous single-handed backhand was back on the show and it was at its glorious best. The most potent weapon of Stan Wawrinka, who is gunning for a hat-trick of titles here at the ATP Chennai Open, fired winners at will as Russian wild card Andrey Rublev found it too hot to handle. Wawrinka hardly broke a sweat in his 6-2, 6-2 victory, compiled in just under an hour. The Swiss will now take on his doubles partner Guillermo Garcia-Lopez for a place in the semi-finals.
Spain’s Garcia-Lopez braved his calf injury to quell the challenge of a qualifier in Ante Pavic (Cro), 7-6(5), 6-1.
Wawrinka said he was happy to go through the first match of the year as it’s always been tricky. “I had a good off-season with my coach Magnus Norman and I am looking forward to put some of the things I learnt to use in the coming weeks,” said the top seed.
Though the world no.4 and reigning French Open champion was hardly tested by the Russian, Wawri-nka was all praise for his young opponent.
“No doubt, he is a big talent. He is fast on the court and has a big game. I am sure he will find his way up as he has got age on his side,” added Wawrinka.
While it was a lesson learnt the hard way for the Russian teenager, another 19-year-old continued his impressive run. Croatia’s Borna Coric, the youngest in the top 50, grunted his way into the quarter-finals after getting the better of American southpaw Austin Krajicek 6-2, 7-5.
While the first set proved to be a no contest for Coric who caught the eye with his ferocious groundstrokes, the second saw the young Croatian letting his opponent off the hook for a brief time. Coric had chances to wrap up the contest early if he converted three breakpoints at 0-40 in the seventh game, but he could eke out the break only in the 11th game.
Coric slipped and hurt his ankle while trying to retrieve a long ball of his backhand, but he still limped his way to win his service game before sealing the contest. The only time Krajicek, a distant cousin of former Wimbledon champion Richard Krajicek, had a breakpoint was in the last game, but he wasted it by netting an easy forehand.
Meanwhile, no. 2 seed Kevin Anderson annou-nced his pull-out from the tournament citing an injury to his left knee. The South African will be replaced by ‘luck loser’ from qualifying Alexander Kudryavtsev who will now meet India’s Ramkumar Ramanathan for a place in the quarter-finals.
Anderson, who was set for his maiden appearance in Chennai, said he was disappointed to withdraw. “It comes at a tricky time. Not just because I was looking forward to play for the first time here, but also for not having an ideal start to the year,” said Anderson.
