Swiss veteran Stanislas Wawrinka will face the challenge of Maxime Cressy in the opening round of Madrid Open
Stanislas Wawrinka is in the twilight of his career and hasn’t been in the best of form so far this year. He is coming into this tournament at the back of a first-round exit from the Skrpska Open and is nowhere near his prime form. However, he did show glimpses of his class last month at the Indian Wells Masters when he defeated seventh seed Holger Rune 6-2, 6-7, 7-5.
Wawrinka’s best performance so far this year came at the Rotterdam Open, where he reached the Quarter-finals with wins over Alexander Bublik and Richard Gasquet in the process. The Swiss veteran followed it up with another impressive quarter-final finish at the Open 13. Unfortunately, he hasn’t been able to replicate his good form in the last two tournaments and he will look to turn things around in Madrid.
Cressy is currently ranked World No.39 in ATP singles but has had an underwhelming season so far. He has suffered first-round exits from all of his previous three tournaments – the Monte Carlo Masters, the Miami Open and the Indian Wells Masters. Cressy’s biggest highlight of the season has been his runners-up finish at the Open Sud de France in February. During his incredible run to the final of the event, Cressy defeated top seeds like Emil Ruusuvuori (7), Borna Coric (3) and Holger Rune (1) before eventually losing in the summit clash to No.2 seed Jannik Sinner.
Details:
Date – Wednesday, 26th April
Court Type – Clay outdoor surface
Telecast – Tennis Channel
Start Time – To be Announced
Location – Madrid, Spain
Match details – First Round match
Wawrinka and Cressy have never played each other once before on the ATP tour. This is the first professional head-to-head clash between the two players. Wawrinka is the slight favourite going into this match both in terms of form and experience. It will be a tough task for Cressy in this encounter, but he is expected to pose a tough challenge. However, we expect the Swiss veteran to see off Cressy’s challenge and win in three sets.
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