Stan Wawrinka (ATP 217) achieves a great victory in Stockholm. The western Swiss defeated the top seed Andrei Rublev (ATP 7) 7:6 (7:5), 7:6 (7:5) in the quarter-finals of the ATP 250 tournament. Dominic Stricker fails against Grigor Dimitrov.
The 39-year-old Wawrinka showed nerves of steel against Rublev, who turns 27 on Sunday, and won both sets in a tie-break. In the first, he won five points in a row after a double fault and converted his fourth set point. In the second tie-break, Wawrinka took the decisive mini-break at 5:5 and won with a backhand winner.
Third win against Rublev
It was the third victory for the Swiss in the fifth duel between the two Olympic champions - Wawrinka in the doubles in 2008, Rublev in the mixed in 2021. He said after the match: "It was important to stay focused against such a strong opponent. I felt good throughout the match and also moved well."
Wawrinka, who had broken the spell the day before and celebrated two wins in a row for the first time in over 13 months, now followed up with his third success. He hasn't been this good since last year's ATP tournament in Umag, when he only had to concede defeat in the final after four wins.
The last hurdle on the way to the final in the Swedish capital is Tommy Paul (ATP 13). The American, seeded number four, won his quarter-final against the Serb Miomir Kecmanovic (ATP 55) 7:6 (11:9), 6:2.
End of the line in the quarter-finals for Stricker
In contrast to Wawrinka, Dominic Stricker (ATP 317) reached the quarter-finals in Stockholm. The 22-year-old from Bern, who had previously defeated Aleksander Kovacevic (USA/ATP 90) and Matteo Berrettini (ITA/ATP 42) in Sweden, lost 3:6, 2:6 to the Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov. In the first set, Stricker missed a break chance against the world number ten to take a 4:3 lead, in the second he was quickly 0:4 behind. After 72 minutes, Dimitrov converted his first match point.
Thanks to a wild card, Stricker - like Wawrinka - will continue with the home tournament in Basel next week. Stricker reached the quarter-finals at the Swiss Indoors a year ago.
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