Stan the Man!

Wawrinka got his deserved Wild Card after all...

First of all, I just want to give a big shoutout to the Swiss! 41-years old, still giving his everything in Challengers in tough conditions, such as the one he just played in Cancun. What amazes me the most is the level he has maintained throughout the year... he is still able to play a lot of competitive matches. Now, we are blessed with the same first-round draw we had at Wimbledon. And yeah, what a match that was... four tiebreaks in four sets. Will we see something similar again? Well, we have two good servers and conditions that are still rather fast, so I'm sure we'll see a good amount of holds, although it probably will not be as extreme this time, especially if the humidity starts affecting them, especially Wawrinka. While getting Matteo in your first round is by no means considered an easy draw for anyone, I still do think that this kind of matchup is not that bad for Stan, since it becomes very serve-oriented... which is still a lot better than having to play long rallies against a young guy.

As for Berrettini, I was quite encouraged by his match against Lehecka in Cincinnati, especially since there were reports early on in the tournament that he was having a lot of problems in practice. He still is someone who does not play a lot of matches, but at least the matches we have seen from him lately have been kind of good and a bit more consistent. However, as I mentioned, it can be a bit troublesome for him to have a lot of margin in these kinds of matches, against another guy who serves well! Will Wawrinka be able to use the crowd and atmosphere to his advantage to produce another competitive match, or will the conditions take his legs too early?