Stan Wawrinka lost his first tour-level match in 13 months on Monday at the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters, but he departs the Principality pleased with his progress.
“It was a way better match. I think the body's getting much better. I'm still far away from where I want to be, but I think I'm [moving in] the right direction,” Wawrinka said after his three-set loss against Alexander Bublik. “I think today was a positive match. It was a tough loss, of course, but I'm happy with the way I was playing today.”
The former World No. 3 took the first set from the shotmaking Kazakhstani and broke serve three times in the match. But as the match wore on, Bublik grew stronger.
It was Wawrinka’s first tour-level appearance since Doha last year. The Swiss competed in an ATP Challenger Tour event in Marbella two weeks ago to begin his comeback from two left foot surgeries, and he is still rounding into form, both in terms of his tennis and his fitness.
“I knew coming here that I'm not physically and tennis-wise ready. I wanted to play a few matches with the Challenger two weeks ago. Now we are practising with the top guys to get my level a bit better,” Wawrinka said. “But I knew and I didn't expect to play already the way I want to play, so I knew it would be difficult. As I said, I think it was much better than what I was expecting today.
“I was playing better, feeling better on the court of course physically, tennis-wise, and also I spent a lot of mental energy to focus, to stay there as it was tough at the end. But again, I'm happy with what I have done today.”
Watch Highlights: Bublik vs. Wawrinka
Wawrinka is a 16-time tour-level titlist who has won some of the world’s biggest tournaments, including the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters in 2014. But the 37-year-old admitted he was not expecting to show up in Monaco and lift the trophy. Pushing Bublik to three sets was a positive for him.
“It's a lot better than I ever thought I could do today. Of course I'm aware that I'm not ready physically, mentally, [tennis-wise]. I didn't play a lot of tennis at all before I'm here,” Wawrinka said. “So I am trying to catch up because I had the goal to come back to competition maybe too quickly, but it was important mentally to know I was going to play two tournaments, Marbella, here, to be able to practise with the best players, to play against them, and to find the emotions that I missed so much.”
With this experience under his belt, Wawrinka will now return to training and discuss with his team how they will approach the coming weeks. He does not know the tournament at which he will compete next.
“What I need is to have a programme that allows me when I get to the next tournament to feel that I'm ready,” Wawrinka said. “So I will take the time I need, and when I will be ready, I will play another tournament.”
For now, Wawrinka is pleased to have once again competed on one of the sport’s biggest stages. More than ever, he appreciates these moments.
“I did this rehabilitation during more than a year just to be able to step onto courts like this one, to be in a tournament like this with the crowd, with the atmosphere, the emotions, and the thrill that you can feel with the stress, also,” Wawrinka said. “All this is the reason why I'm playing, and it was very enjoyable today.”
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