The path back towards the top of the game for Stan Wawrinka has been slow and painful and at times it must have seemed as if it might never happen. But there is light at the end of the tunnel. Having returned in January, five months after two operations on his left knee, Wawrinka has struggled for most of 2018. On Monday he defeated the No 6 seed, Grigor Dimitrov, 1-6, 7-6 (3), 7-6 (5), 6-4 in round one for a victory that must have been almost as satisfying as his three grand slam title wins.
“It is a great feeling to win a match like that on Centre Court,” he said. “To be here and to move that well, felt good. Grigor is a tough opponent to beat. I knew it would be a tough match. My goal was to fight and focus on my game and to always improve during the match, so happy to win like that.
“There have been some tough months mentally, so it is a big surprise to play that well after losing the first set. I knew I would be nervous but I have been practising so hard to play at that level. “The atmosphere was amazing, so I am really happy.”
His win was even more surprising, given the manner of his defeat by Andy Murray in Eastbourne last week. That day it looked like a battle of two wounded animals, with the Swiss the worse of the two. On Monday, as Dimitrov buckled, Wawrinka grew in strength and by the end he looked close to the player who lacks only Wimbledon for a full set of grand slam titles. Commentating on the BBC, John McEnroe said Dimitrov, a semi-finalist here in 2014, had not been able to cope with the occasion. “We saw guys lacking confidence for different reasons,” he said. “Wawrinka coming back from injury, the other inexplicable. Dimitrov couldn’t handle the expectation, the pressure he put on himself. When push comes to shove he’s coming up empty. It’s a devastating loss considering he had opportunities to win it.”
Even more inexplicable in that Dimitrov ripped through the first set 6-1 in 24 minutes. At that stage Wawrinka sat quietly on his chair, taking it all in. More importantly he did not panic.
A break of serve in the sixth game gave him a 4-2 lead and, though Dimitrov recovered the break, Wawrinka snatched the tie-break 7-3 to level. Dimitrov looked back in command when he led 5-2 in the third set but Wawrinka broke back and then won the tie-break 7-5. His tail up, Wawrinka forced two match points on the Dimitrov serve and took the second with a backhand that ripped at the Bulgarian’s toes. He will play an Italian qualifier, Thomas Fabbiano, in the second round. The third seed, Marin Cilic, began his title bid in convincing style, crushing Yoshihito Nishioka of Japan 6-1, 6-4, 6-4 to reach round two. The runner-up to Roger Federer in the final last year, Cilic is many people’s tip for the title this time and, despite a strong breeze, he banged down 21 aces.
Gaël Monfils saw off his fellow Frenchman Richard Gasquet in an unusually stress-free performance, winning through 7-6 (6), 7-5, 6-4, thanks largely to some outstanding serving. He won 84% of points on his first serve and for a moment it seemed as though he had broken the record for the fastest ever serve, at 150mph. However, it was later confirmed that the registered speed was due to an error with the speed gun. The American 11th seed, Sam Querrey, who beat Murray on the way to the semi-finals here last year, defeated Australia’s Jordan Thompson 6-2, 6-4, 6-3 while the ninth seed, John Isner, ousted the German qualifier Yannick Maden 6-2, 7-6 (4), 7-5. There was a good opening win for Greece’s Stefanos Tsitsipas, who claimed a four‑set victory against Grégoire Barrère of France.
Borna Coric, the man who beat Federer in the Halle final, suffered a shock defeat, going out in straight sets to Daniil Medvedev of Russia.
