Stan Wawrinka, more than six years removed from the last of his three Grand Slam championships, advanced to the fourth round of the BNP Paribas Open with a 6-2, 6-7 (5), 7-5 win over seventh-seed Holger Rune of Denmark on Monday in Indian Wells, Calif.
Wawrinka, a 37-year-old Swiss player who is ranked 100th in the world, is through to the fourth round at an ATP Masters 1000 event for the first time since he got to the quarterfinals at Paris in 2020. He hasn’t gotten past the third round of a major since reaching the quarterfinals at the 2020 Australian Open.
After cruising through the first set, Wawrinka was up 5-3 in the second set but failed to seal the win. Rune, 19, broke serve but then saw Wawrinka get a match point at 4-5 before recovering to take the set in a tiebreaker.
The decisive third set remained on serve until Wawrinka broke at love to wrap up the victory.
“I feel good,” Wawrinka said. “The last 45 minutes was tough. I had the match in control, was playing well. I was putting a lot of pressure, I should have won the match way before. I started feeling nervous and hesitated a little bit. He came back in the match.
“He is an amazing player, a young player. But it is special to keep winning. It was important to stay there mentally because I am playing well. … All my career I know only one way. To keep fighting, working, pushing myself and stay positive. I am super happy with the win.”
Up next for Wawrinka is a matchup against 11th-seeded Jannik Sinner. The Italian defeated France’s Adrian Mannarino 7-6 (7), 6-4, never facing a break point and producing a 6-1 edge in aces.
Sinner said of opposing Wawrinka, “I think we both know (each other) quite well, the way we play. It’s going to be for sure a tough match. … He’s playing some very, very good tennis. He’s now back in confidence, he’s had some very good wins now.
“He plays very well here, he likes the conditions, so hopefully it’s going to be a good match.”
In other third-round action, fourth-seeded Taylor Fritz of the United States demolished 30th-seeded Sebastian Baez of Argentina 6-1, 6-2, and eighth-seeded Felix Auger-Aliassime of Canada defeated 27th-seeded Francisco Cerundolo of Argentina 7-5, 6-4.
The United States’ Tommy Paul, who is seeded 17th, rallied past ninth-seeded Hubert Hurkacz of Poland 4-6, 6-2, 6-4, and Hungary’s Marton Fucsovics got past Slovakia’s Alex Molcan 6-4, 6-2.
The night session included a matchup of British players, Andy Murray and Jack Draper, and top-seeded Carlos Alcaraz of Spain meeting the Netherlands’ Tallon Greikspoor.
–Field Level Media
