Stanislas Wawrinka eliminated in first round of French Open
By Jack Maloney
A few months ago, not many casual tennis fans had heard about Stanislas Wawrinka, the countryman of tennis superstar Roger Federer. Even if they had heard of him, they probably only knew little about him, possibly such as the fact he was from the same country as Federer.
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But then Wawrinka went down to Australia and defeated Rafa Nadal to win the Australian Open. Suddenly he was no longer a no-name, middle-of-the-pack tennis player who happened to be from the same country as Roger Federer. He was a Grand Slam champion.
Today, Wawrinka played in his firs Grand Slam match since winning in Australia, taking on Guillermo Garcia-Lopez of Spain in the first round of the French Open. Unfortunately for Wawrinka, it didn’t go so well.
Wawrinka was the third seed heading into the tournament, but lost in four sets to the unheralded Garcia-Lopez. Wawrinka just wasn’t himself today, finishing with 61 unforced errors.
It isn’t like Wawrinka just can’t play on clay either, something that is the case for many players, who struggle with the lesser used surface.
"Wawrinka was a quarterfinalist at Roland Garros last year, and he won a clay-court title at Monte Carlo last month, beating pal Roger Federer in the final. Wawrinka and Federer won a doubles gold medal together for Switzerland at the 2008 Beijing Olympics."
Sometimes players just don’t have it, and that certainly seemed to be the case for Wawrinka today. One bad match isn’t the end of the world, however, and Wawrinka will likely bounce back in the next tournament he plays in.