In the cutthroat world of professional tennis, it’s rare to find friends who genuinely care about each other’s careers. Switzerland’s Stan Wawrinka and France’s Benoit Paire share one such enviable relationship. They train together, play doubles occasionally, go to the restaurant every night and, as Paire said, they basically do everything together on the Tour.
That friendship was evident when they squared off in the semi-finals of the ATP Chennai Open here on Saturday.
From Wawrinka’s perspective, the 6-3, 6-4 victory was a lot tougher than the scoreline of the 60-minute contest suggested. The Swiss world no. 4 had to play out his skin to extend the head-to-head to 6-1.
Paire, who is coming off an outstanding season after winning the ATP Comeback Player of the Year award, could show his sublime form only in patches and to add to his woes the tall Frenchman’s movement was hampered by cramps in the second set. He was wrong-footed on a couple of occasions and also seen stretching his thigh muscles on an advertising hoarding.
Despite his off day, Paire produced some stunning strokes and the biggest admirer was his friend across the net.
A well-angled backhand crosscourt flew past Wawrinka to kiss the tramline as the top seed stood and clapped in appreciation. Friendly banter followed almost all the HawkEye challenges.
“It was important to focus on my game as it was tough to play against someone who knows my game very well. We are always meeting in a big match.
“Last year, it was the final in Tokyo and now a semi-final here,” said Wawrinka, who served six aces and converted half of his four breakpoints.
Continuing his quest for a hat trick of titles here, and a fourth overall, Wawrinka will take on Croatian teenager Borna Coric who beat last year’s runner-up Aljaz Bedene of Great Britain 7-6(5), 6-7(5), 6-3.
“It’s going to be a tough match. I have to play my best to retain the title,” said Wawrinka. Coric became the first teenager to enter the ATP final since the accomplishment of his countryman Marin Cilic in 2008.
Both the Croatian and Brit had survived marathon three-setters in the quarterfinals, yet they had enough energy left in the legs to make it a high-intensity battle. The most exciting was the seventh game of the decider that lasted almost 14 minutes before Coric held his serve. As a contrast, the next one was over in a flash with Coric converting allthree breakpoints. Coric held his serve to put an end to the three-hour duel.
Result (SF): Stan Wawrinka (Sui) bt Benoit Paire (Fra) 6-3, 6-4. Borna Coric (Cro) bt Aljaz Bedene (Slo) 7-6(5), 6-7(5), 6-3.
