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Hungarian world No. 55 Marton Fucsovics showed respect to Stan Wawrinka after their Australian Open clash but added that he was the stronger player mentally on the court. Fucsovics survived a five-set thriller against Wawrinka as he edged out the three-time Grand Slam champion 7-5 6-1 4-6 2-6 7-6
(9).
In the super tie-break of the fifth set, Wawrinka was up by 6-1 and then had three consecutive match points at 9-6 but Fucsovics recovered and won the match. “After playing four hours, I was not thinking about any tactics or how can I win this point,” Fucsovics said, per the ATP website.
“I just wanted to survive somehow, put every ball back, fight until the end. Against Stan, it is not easy. He is a very experienced player. He won three Grand Slams, but today I was the stronger [player] mentally”.
Wawrinka says playing Fucsovics is always tough
“[It was a] tough match of course, five sets, four hours.
[It is] always a difficult battle against my opponent… Today was the same,” said Wawrinka. “[It was] not the best level for me, but again, I was fighting. I had some chances to finish the match, I didn't finish [it], I hesitated a little bit when I had the match points and I lost it”.
Wawrinka was on the brink of creating a big comeback win over Fucsovics but he failed to deliver in the key moments of the match. “From 6/1, I started to hesitate a little bit [in] the way I was playing,” said Wawrinka.
“I wanted to put the ball maybe too much in and I [was] not going completely for my shots and that's when I started to miss a little bit and it helped him to come back in the match. He was fighting well, he's a tough player, he's a good player and he deserved to win”. Fucsovics plays next against Milos Raonic.