Stan Wawrinka (against Holger Rune) and Marc-Andrea Hüsler (against Karen Chatschanow) miss the exploit in Paris-Bercy.
In the end, Stan Wawrinka (ATP 153) should be tearing his hair out: the Romand faced Holger Rune, after all the strong world number 18, before victory 3 times. In the end, however, the Basel finalists retained the upper hand and won the duel in the first round 4:6, 7:5, 7:6 (7:3).
In the second set, after a lively exchange of blows with constantly changing momentum, Wawrinka had two match points when the score was 5:4. But the 19-year-old Dane kept his nerve, served both threats away at lightning speed and got the equalizer a little later. The Swiss had won the balanced first round with a break at the perfect time.
In the deciding set, after numerous other strong rallies, it was 6:5 from Wawrinka’s point of view, again the three-time Grand Slam winner was unable to use the match ball when the opponent served. In the short decision, Rune then made short work of the 37-year-old and can continue to dream of his 3rd tournament victory at ATP level this year. For Wawrinka, the comeback season is now over.
Hüsler also loses tight game
After his coup against Jannik Sinner, the next top 20 player meant the end of the line for Marc-Andrea Hüsler (ATP 61). Against Karen Chatschanow (ATP 19) he had to admit defeat in the 2nd round in 3 contested sets 3: 6, 6: 4, 4: 6.
In both lost rounds, Hüsler kept things balanced against the Russians before the Russians turned up the heat at the right moment and broke the Zurich player to make it 5:3 and 5:4 respectively. In the 2nd set, the beginning underlined how much the two players acted on an equal footing: 4 of the first 5 games went to zero to the server. At the right time, Hüsler then won 3 break or set points and used the 3rd to equalize.
Despite the defeat, the 26-year-old can look back on a solid ATP 1000 tournament in Paris-Bercy thanks to his entry into the second round.
