DUBAI // Stan Wawrinka has said he was not “good enough” on the day after getting knocked out by an inspired Damir Dzumhur, the Bosnian winning their first-round match 7-6(4), 6-3.
Bothered by a knee injury during the Australian Open, Wawrinka pulled out of the Rotterdam Open earlier this month to give his knee more time to heal.
But he showed little rust at the start, racing to a 4-1 lead before wilting.
The persistent Dzumhur, ranked No 77, seized the moment, breaking back in the seventh game and then clinching the opening set in the tie-break.
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Wawrinka had dropped the opening set of his first-round match against Sergiy Stakhovsky last year as well, and that was the only set he had dropped that entire week en route to the title.
Dzumhur, however, was having an inspired afternoon, breaking Wawrinka twice – once to love – to race to a 5-1 lead. Jitters probably got in the way as the Bosnian served for the match and three double faults followed. But he got the job done on his following service game.
“I was missing something, for sure, that little bit,” said Wawrinka, who had returned to practise last Monday. “Physically I was a little bit slow sometimes, so I couldn’t hit that hard from the baseline to push him back and I think I was a little bit too early in defence.
“The positive of the tournament here is that the knee is feeling good now. I don’t have any pain, but that was the only positive of today.
“I’m quite unhappy to lose first round. It’s tough, because I played well last year here. I was happy to be back. I was happy to be back on the ATP Tour after a month. I was excited and I wanted to do better this week. But the result is not there.”
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