Stan Wawrinka (ATP 233) fell at the start of Beijing. The 38-year-old Vaudois lost 6-3 6-4 to the Russian “lucky loser” Roman Safiullin (ATP 69) in the first round of the ATP 500 played in the Chinese capital.
Withdrawn due to injury for the St-Tropez Challenger two weeks earlier, Stan Wawrinka began his Asian tour with a defeat, his 15th in 21 matches played this year (Challengers included). However, he had his chance against Roman Safiullin for his first match since the US Open, where he also fell from the start.
The former world no.3 thus obtained the first break point recorded in the 2nd set, at 1-0. And in the first set, he benefited – while trailing 4-2 – from an opportunity to erase the break conceded in the 4th game of the match. But he never managed to take over the opposing service.
Lack of efficiency in service
Stan Wawrinka, who also inherited a “wild card” for the Masters 1000 in Shanghai (October 2-13), held off until 4-4 in the 2nd set. He then lost his serve for the second time, not without missing a 5-4 ball. His lack of efficiency on serve (51% of first balls passed) weighed heavily.
ats/bur
