Hello Stan!
Is Stan’s game peaking at the right moment?
Stan Wawrinka with a powerful display of heavy hitting tennis stifled Alexandr Dolgopolov 6-4, 7-6 (5), 7-5 to move into the 3rd round of the French Open.
Dolgopolov is a dangerous player who is highly unpredictable and allows little rhythm to his opponents. When in reach of the ball he rarely plays a neutral or rally shot and can punch a flat forehand as well as a top spin backhand. Wawrinka on the other hand thrives on rhythm to give him confidence, and it takes him considerable time to get that rhythm in a match or tournament for that matter. A 2nd round meeting with a rhythm disrupter of Dolgopolov’s caliber had serious makings of a possible upset but Stan’s powerful ground shots and focused approach saved the day for him. And, except for a short lapse in focus around 3-1 in the third set, Wawrinka was as clued in as he could be against a tricky opponent.
Dolgopolov played quite well and with as much confidence as he could have mustered from the knowledge of having beaten Wawrinka in their last two meetings in 2014 Miami Masters, and 2013 Rome. However, those were in a different era and Stan probably did not take those losses into consideration this time around, and like in everything and everywhere else, it takes two to clap and Wawrinka was in no mood to clap for Dolgopolov.
Wawrinka has been searching for rhythm and confidence this entire clay season and had grabbed hold of the tail of that tiger in Geneva where he beat Mischa Zverev 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 in the finals. However, from the tail to back of that tiger is a journey in its own and Wawrinka, with this win over Alexandr, seems quite close to riding that tiger again.
The high quality of this match is evident from Wawrinka’s 16 aces, 70% first serve percentage and 41 winners, and Dolgopolov, on his part, did well with 6 aces, 71% first serve percentage and 35 winners to his credit. Wawrinka needed this tough fought win against Alexandr to give him that much needed confidence against another tricky and strong opponent in Fabio Fognini.
The players and fans are all well aware of the danger of a confident Stan who has found his rhythm.
Fabio is not clowning around here
Fabio is not just flash, he has enough talent and substance as a player to beat anyone on a given day. He came into the French Open with a reasonably okay clay season and win over the world number one in Rome Masters. His first round against the up and coming Frances Tiafoe ran into a lengthy five setter where Fabio rushed into a two set lead only to become Fabio again and allow Tiafoe to make it two sets all. However, he recovered in time to win the fifth 6-0 and play his country fellow Andeas Seppi in the 2nd round of the French Open. Prior to this meeting, Seppi had a 5-4 H2H advantage between them. However, Andreas had lost the most recent four to Fabio and with this loss he allowed Fabio to even their H2H 5-5.
Fabio had it relatively easier, as compared to Stan, in his 2nd round against Seppi but Wawrinka too got what he wanted – a tough match with a tricky opponent. The Dog should have amply prepared Stan for his 3rd round encounter with Fabio as Fabio can be an equally tricky shot-maker who thrives on disrupting opponent’s rhythm. The last time these two played was in 2014, therefore Stan’s 5-1 H2H advantage amounts to little here.
Beating Fabio would give Stan even more rhythm and confidence for the remainder of this tournament and take him a step closer to the quarters and semis, and we all know of Stan’s transformation into Stanimal in the later stages of a slam!
Conclusion: Stan over Fabio in 4