Stanislas Wawrinka edges past Jeremy Chardy into the last 16 – Rakuten Japan Open 2012
World number 16, Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland, became the first player to reach quarter-finals, as he defeated France’s Jeremy Chardy in three sets 7-6(1), 6-7(6), 7-5 in the second round of the Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championships
in Tokyo. The Swiss star needed two hours and 37 minutes to win this marathon encounter.
Wawrinka and Chardy made a steady start, as they held their serve in the first five games to take the score to 3-2 in favour of the latter. The Frenchman struck in the sixth and consolidated on it to go up 5-2. Wawrinka bounced
back in style, capturing four of the following five games to equalise the score at 6-6 and force a tie-breaker. The Swiss contestant took his standard to the next level after that, losing just one point and triumphing 7-6(1).
In the second set, Wawrinka and Chardy delivered superbly, winning their entire serve games to take the score to 6-6. The Swiss player gained an early lead this time and maintained it till 5-2 but then Chardy grabbed six of the
next seven points to seal it 7-6(6).
There was no break of serve in the first 10 games of the third set, evening out the proceedings at 5-5. Wawrinka nailed a breakthrough in the 11th and capitalised on that to grab the decider 7-5.
Talking to the reporters after the match, Wawrinka said, “For sure, it wasn’t easy in the second set, especially after having three match points in the tie-break. You need to be ready to still play the third set and to fight. It
was really tough for me, but at the end I managed well. I was playing really good in the third set.”
The Swiss number two will lock horns with the top seed, Andy Murray, in the quarter-finals.
On playing Murray, Wawrinka added, “He is playing great, he won the Olympics, he won the US Open and he always plays great here. It’s going to be tough, for sure. It’s always tough to play against top five, top four players. You
need to focus on what you are going to do and try to play your best game.”
The Swiss player trails 4-7 in the head to head series against the British star.
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