Andy Murray and Stan Wawrinka
– Photo: Social Media
Expansion
Stan Wawrinka of Switzerland defeated Andy Murray of Britain 6-3, 6-0. It is believed to be the first ATP Challenger Tour match between two Grand Slam champions in four decades. Earlier in 1981 in San Remo, Italy, Ilie Nestase defeated Jan Kodes. Wawrinka entered the quarterfinals with the victory in a match that lasted one hour and 15 minutes. Wawrinka will now face fifth seed Ugo Humbert.
Both the players have won three Grand Slams each.
Both tennis players have won a total of three Grand Slams. Wawrinka has won the Australian Open in 2014, the French Open in 2015 and the US Open in 2016 while Murray has won the US Open in 2012, Wimbledon in 2013 and 2016. Both the players are over 35 years old. Wawrinka is 38 and Murray will celebrate his 36th birthday on Monday. Both the players had to undergo surgery recently.
Both players outside top-40
Wawrinka had surgery on his knee and left foot, while Murray had surgery on his hip. Wawrinka has reached number three in the ATP rankings and is now ranked 84. Murray was once number one and is now ranked 42nd. Wawrinka and Murray have met 22 times at the top level of the ATP, with Murray winning 13 and Wawrinka nine. In these, if we talk about Grand Slam, there have been seven encounters in which Wawrinka has won four and Murray has won three. When both reached the court, the audience stood up and greeted them. The two had their first encounter on the Challenger Tour.
Why veterans had to land on the Challenger Tour
The Challengers Tour is a tournament of a lower level than the main ATP Tour, mostly played by emerging players. Many times such big players also enter this tournament who are away from the field for a long time due to injury or are going through their bad phase. The key to their participation is to find the old rhythm and collect important ranking points. Murray recently competed on the Challenger Tour in Aix-en-Provence and won a title after a long time by defeating Tommy Paul, who reached the semi-finals of the Australian Open.