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Three-time Grand Slam champion Stan Wawrinka admitted he didn't deliver his best tennis on Wednesday and that contributed to him suffering a surprise second round loss at the Australian Open. Wawrinka, ranked at No. 18 in the world, blew a great opportunity to close out the match as world No.
55 Marton Fucsovics claimed a tight 7-5 6-1 4-6 2-6 7-6 (9) win. “[It was a] tough match of course, five sets, four hours. [It is] always a difficult battle against my opponent… Today was the same,” Wawrinka said after the loss, per the ATP website.
“[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 failed to deliver in key moments
Wawrinka recovered from an early break down in the first set but lost his serve once again in the 11th game and Fucsovics served out for the opener in the following game.
The Hungarian then absolutely dominated the second set as he claimed three breaks to take a comfortable two-set lead. But Wawrinka earned a break in the opening game of the third set and held on to his serve to force a fourth set.
The Swiss started the fourth set with back-to-back breaks as he went on to forve a decider. In the match super tie-break of the fifth set, Wawrinka had a 9-6 lead before dropping five consecutive points and losing 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”.