DUBAI // Another day. Another disappointment.
This has been a tough year for the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships. First, Roger Federer was forced to pull out because of a knee surgery, then a slew of WTA stars, including Serena Williams, opted out of the women's week.
The top eight seeds in that first week of the tournament crashed out without winning a match and then Novak Djokovic, on the verge of breaking possibly two of the toughest records in the men’s game, was forced to retire without completing his quarter-final match due to an eye infection.
Now, Nick Kyrgios has been forced out, without completing his much-talked about semi-final clash against Stan Wawrinka. The Australian, trailing 4-6, 0-3, decided on an early handshake due to a back problem.
Kyrgios never looked like he would complete the match. He was clutching and kneading his lower back from the first game of the match, and as he sat slumped on his chair during the changeovers, with a distant melancholic look, you knew he would not last long.
The Australian did try to make a match of it, fighting back from two breaks down to level the scores at 4-4. He called the physio out as well, but the four minutes of therapy did not really help. At the next changeover, you could see him telling his brother Christos, who was in the stands, that he will not be able to continue.
“It’s been bothering me the last couple of days, to be honest with you,” Kyrgios said about his back. “It was bothering me yesterday when I played Tomas [Berdych], as well.
“I had a bit of a hip injury at the start of Marseilles. That was still sort of bothering me a little bit. I was sort of struggling with a couple of niggles. I have been feeling so bad every day, like I’ve got some viral infection, as well.”
Wawrinka, thankfully for the fans and the organisers, has not been feeling that bad. The No 2 seed is not too happy with his tennis yet, but he is hoping to play at that level in Saturday’s final.
“I’m in finals so there is one more match to play my best tennis,” said Wawrinka, who is making his first appearance in Dubai since his first round exit in 2008. “That’s the most important.
“For sure if you look from the beginning of the week I was not playing great at all. I was trying to find a way. That’s where I can still improve and I’m happy I did this week – not playing some great tennis, frustrated during matches, but still fighting and trying to find solutions to win more matches during the week to play better.”
Wawrinka’s biggest test came in his opening round clash against Sergiy Stakhovsky, when he was two points away from being knocked out, serving at 4-5, 15-30 in the third set. The Swiss, however, fought back to win that match and it has been a bit of a smoother sailing since.
“I didn’t play here for many, many years so I didn’t know what to expect,” he said. “Everybody was saying it’s fast, need to play aggressive. But until you play, you cannot really see.
“So the first match was terrible from my side. I was late on everything. I did so many mistakes from just normal shots. Now, in general, I feel good. I know what to expect. I’m moving better. I’m a little bit more relaxed. So, as far as I think, it’s going to be a good final.”
Organisers will be hoping for that as well, especially after the one-sided women’s final last Saturday. Federer might not be here, but Wawrinka has kept the Swiss flag flying high. He is on an eight-match win streak in finals and if he can keep that run going, it will be a Swiss hat-trick in Dubai.
arizvi@thenational.ae
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