Stanislas Wawrinka is somewhat notorious for not putting away the ‘big four’ when he has his chances. Few tennis fans will forget his missed opportunity against Novak Djokovic in the last sixteen of the Australian Open. On that day his superb single handed backhand and his attacking game were on full display but, crucially, not at the crunch times.
Check out Wawrinka’s best shot here:
This weapon was showcased once more in his last sixteen match in Monte Carlo against Andy Murray, helping him to get into a winning position. But this time he did not fold when his opportunity knocked.
The Swiss pulled away from Murray at 1-1 in the first set to win seven games on the trot against the recent Miami winner. In the second set, Murray looked like he might be able to dig his heels in but he was soon knocked off his feet as Wawrinka, his backhand filling him with confidence, found winner after winner, while for Murray it was a case of a comedy of errors. The Scot was not able to get into the match, his own poor play and the vastly superior play of the Swiss rendering him unable to build any rhythm or, as he likes to do, disrupt his opponent’s.
Early in the second set, Wawrinka charged ahead again. Those single handed backhands found the lines and cut up the court for winners, and his forays to the net were favored with fortune as he ran away to a 6-2, 5-1 lead. And the speed with which the match passed by meant that Wawrinka was fortunately denied the time to think about the prospect of a defeat of the world number two, soon to be number three after this loss, and he was able to close out the match with the minimum of fuss for the loss of three games.
Handing the Scot his heaviest defeat since last year’s early exit in Indian Wells to Garcia-Lopez will give Wawrinka great confidence for the remainder of the Clay court season. While Clay might not be Murray’s strongest surface, having trained on the stuff in Barcelona in his teenage years, it is a surface on which he is more than competent.
Wawrinka, the 2008 Italian Open finalist, will next face either Tsonga or Melzer.
Watch the final game of Wawrinka’s victory over Murray here:
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