ATP Stockholm: Quarterfinals – semifinals perfect: Wawrinka with exploit against Rublew – Sport

• Stan Wawrinka (ATP 217) is in the semi-finals of an ATP event for the first time since July 2023.
• At the ATP 250 tournament in Stockholm, the 39-year-old Romand beat Andrej Rublev (RUS/ATP 7) 7:6 (7:5) in the quarterfinals, 7:6 (7:5).
• The American Tommy Paul (ATP 13) awaits in the semi-finals on Saturday.
• Later on Friday, Dominic Stricker (ATP 317) will reach for the semi-final ticket in the last singles match of the day against Grigor Dimitrov (BUL/ATP 10).

A few days before the home appearance in Basel, Stan Wawrinka (ATP 217) was surfing the wave of success in the late autumn of his career. The Vaudois is in the semi-finals in Stockholm after a coup over Andrej Rublev, seventh in the world rankings and number 1 on the seed list.

The last time he strung together more than two victories in a row on the ATP tour was in July 2023 at the final push in Umag, Croatia. And the day before, for the first time since last year’s US Open, the 39-year-old didn’t end in the second round at the latest.

On hand in difficult moments

The first round was on a knife edge and after a hard-fought 55 minutes it became Romand’s prey. The Russian had scored a fraction more points with 43:42 and, in contrast to Wawrinka, also had a sniff of a service breakthrough. But the 3-time Grand Slam champion fended off the two break points at 3:4 with powerful serves.

In the tiebreak, Wawrinka initially played unleashed, was ahead 6-2 and then had to tremble again. Only when a backhand from Rublew sailed out to the side did the 4th set point make it 7:6 (7:5).

Redemption after 1:52 hours

Wawrinka was able to take the momentum with him in the second round. The Romand managed an early break, but had to give it up again immediately. Both players then served their serves before Rublev got a break point at 5:5. Wawrinka fought back with his aggressive baseline game and the tiebreak had to be decided again.

There Wawrinka only missed a 5:3 lead before he got his first match point at 6:5 when Rublew served. The outsider dictated the rally from the start and provoked a forehand error from his Russian opponent. After 1:52 hours, the current world number 217 won.

In the semifinals against Paul

On Saturday there will be a duel with Tommy Paul in the semi-finals. The American struggled in his 7:6 (9:7), 6:2 win against Miomir Kecmanovic (SRB/ATP 55), especially in the first set. In the duel of direct encounters the score is 1:1.