WAWRINKA CRASHES OUT

Stanislas Wawrinka was one of the first upsets in this year’s men’s competition at Wimbledon, as he went out in the first round to an in form Jurgen Melzer. The match was played over two days and took the full five sets to complete, eventually finishing 3-6 7-6 2-6 6-4 8-6 in favour of the Austrian. Wawrinka admitted he was disappointed to go out so early in the proceedings, but this was a tough draw for the Swiss player, since Melzer sits only 11 places lower in the world rankings.

The defeat was taken well by Wawrinka, who in any case will be returning to the All England Club later on this summer to compete in the Olympic games with his compatriot Roger Federer. “It’s tennis, part of the tennis,” Wawrinka said, describing the outcome. “It’s never easy to lose a match like that, especially in the fifth set. But I think was a good match. I think we played some great tennis during five sets. For sure, I’m really sad about the result. But at the end he was playing a little bit better, especially yesterday in the fifth set.” The loss is more surprising considering the Swiss number two defeated Janko Tipsarevic in an exhibition match at Boodles during his warm-up for the tournament. Sadly he couldn’t continue this calibre of tennis and must watch the rest of the tournament from the side of the court.

The Olympics will begin on the 27^th of July and it will be the first time in Olympic history that the tennis will be played at a Grand Slam venue. Wawrinka is of course behind world number 3 Roger Federer in the Swiss team, but will certainly be a tough draw for anyone who encounters him early on, and has tasted Olympic success before. At the last Olympics he took the Gold medal in men’s doubles with Federer, and it was that year that saw him achieve his career high singles ranking – number 9. Wawrinka will be hoping that this year’s games will bring him another taste of victory, although he may find it difficult to triumph on grass instead of his favourite clay surface.