In tennis, sometimes it’s important just to get the job done. That’s exactly what Stanislas Wawrinka did in his second round match against Romanian qualifier Marius Copil, progressing to the third round with a 7-6 (4) 7-6 (4) 6-3 victory. Wawrinka came into the match on an eight match winning streak at Melbourne, whilst his opponent was on a four match winning streak, having progressed through qualifying and his first round match.
Early indications were that this was going to be a tough one for Wawrinka. He went down a break point in his first service game but was saved by a big cross court forehand. Unforced errors quickly crept into his game, and the defending champion ended the set with fifteen of them. Meanwhile, the 6ft 3” Copil turned out to have a huge serve, serving at 3-4, he smashed down a serve at 149 mph and ended the day with seventeen aces. Facing such a disruptive weapon turned out to be a problem for Wawrinka who never truly found his range, despite flashes of brilliance with his backhand.
The set rolled on with serve and Wawrinka showed little outward signs of frustration, unlike his previous match, but his relaxed demeanour could not cover the struggles he had with his ground game. As the first set headed to a tiebreak, Copil had a good rhythm on serve and alarm bells were ringing for the defending champion. Wawrinka went down a mini break but managed to claw it back by drawing Copil into an extended rally. Wawrinka was able to raise his game in the tiebreak, alert to the short ball. At 4-3, he drove a probing forehand which Copil couldn’t control. With Copil serving at 4-6, Wawrinka managed to hit an outrageous backhand winner down the line to take the set, fist-pumping towards his camp as he walked to the chair.
In the second set, it was still clear the Wawrinka was ill at ease but his level was better. Returning at 1-1, Wawrinka threaded the needle with a backhand pass and hit a huge forehand down the line to earn two break points. He earned the break with a backhand pass, his trusty backhand picking up the slack for the rest of his game. Wawrinka began to consistently approach the net and play free-flowing tennis. However, serving at 4-3, Wawrinka had a sudden and inexplicable loss of concentration, double faulting twice and making two unforced errors to gift the break back to Copil.
During the changeover at 4-5, Wawrinka began icing his elbow as well as giving the ball boy a few choice words about water-the relaxed facade was slipping. Soon enough, it was another tie-break but a negative Wawrinka had to raise his level again, if he were to take it. The defending champion increased his level with his faithful backhand doing its work and striking a clean winner down the line at 5-4 to earn a set point. A one-two combination of serve and forehand was enough to close out the set for 7-6.
Two sets to the good, Wawrinka began to loosen up. He cut out his unforced errors, only making nine in the set compared to ten winners and also making 81% of first serves. It’s also important not to underestimate how well Copil played throughout the match. He made several amazing pick-ups and was able to best Wawrinka in the cat and mouse exchanges more times than he lost. Not to mention he served well, winning 76% of his first serve points. Trading holds, Copil, serving at 3-4, found himself in a 0-30 hold. Having saved a couple of break points with bold serves and plays, it was now time for Copil to have a meltdown. Consecutive double faults saw him donate the break and thus ruin his hopes for the match. Serving for the match at 5-3, Wawrinka served-volleyed on a couple of occasions and let rip on a backhand down the line to earn himself two match points which he duly converted.
In his post-match press conference Wawrinka acknowledged that he, “Wasn’t playing my best tennis, but I’m happy the way I fight today and the way I did with the match.” It’s important to keep match times down in the early rounds of slams, such is the physical nature of having to win seven matches in a row especially in Australia where the heat is physically debilitating. He’ll now face Jarkko Nieminen, the 33 year old veteran who made the quarters in Australia back in 2008.
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