Wawrinka surmounts the Muller challenge
Bedene continues giant-killing act, packs off Garcia-Lopez
Playing with calculated aggression, top seed Stanislas Wawrinka blunted a fierce challenge from Gilles Muller to enter the semifinals of the Aircel Chennai Open on Friday.
On a day when his backhand didn’t necessarily fire, the Swiss had to search for newer weapons — like his sliced and expertly redirected return winners — to outplay his opponent.
The first-set — won 6-2 by Wawrinka — seemed more like a routine, but both players initially struggled to control their shots. The breeze often caused the ball to drift away. It was then that the defending champion curbed his natural instinct to go for power and loaded his shots with enough top spin to pull them back just in time.
Windy
“The conditions were a bit windy,” said the Swiss after the 6-2, 7-6(4) win. “I had to take it early and use more angles. I am happy I was able to do it.”
The Swiss also attacked Muller’s weaker side — backhand. It worked as long as the latter kept slicing and Wawrinka had the easy put-away.
However, in the second, Muller changed his approach. The backhand slice was replaced by a proper double-hander. His serve — so integral for someone who chooses to finish rallies quickly by knocking off volleys — got better. And then came the break of serve to give him a 4-2 lead.
But, he conceded the break immediately.
In the very next game, he had Wawrinka serving at 3-4 and 0-30, but squandered the opportunity.
The world No. 4 took more risks — like on deuce, he went for the line with abandon — and was rewarded.
He put the Muller serve under pressure at 4-4 and had two break points. But, the 31-year-old managed to wriggle out and stretched the match to a tie-break.
He then stayed with Wawrinka till 4-4 before the top seed followed a backhand winner with a service winner and an ace to close it out.
Agut in last four
In another quarterfinal, Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut, in a much-improved performance than his earlier rounds, prevailed over Chinese Taipei’s Yen-Hsun Lu 7-6(7), 6-4.
The third seed had to fight back from a break down in the first set and save two set points — one with Lu serving at 5-4 and one in the tie-break at 6-5 — before taking the set.
However, in the second set, he proved to be a far better player. He broke early — in the third game — and played his best service game of the match to go 3-1 up. His two winners on the rise even while being off-balance were the standout shots.
He will now meet Aljaz Bedene, the qualifier, who defeated fifth-seeded Guillermo Garcia-Lopez in three sets.
In the other semifinal, Wawrinka will clash with David Goffin, who won in straight sets against Andreas Haider-Maurer.
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