Chinese tennis star Wu Yibing on his journey to ATP Tour
Stan Wawrinka became the oldest man to win a match at the US Open on Wednesday before declaring that he wanted more. The Swiss former world No 3, who was champion at Flushing Meadows seven years ago, hadn’t won in New York since 2019.
However, he was too hot to handle for Yoshihito Nishioka, who had no answer to Wawrinka’s punishing groundstrokes. The three-times Grand Slam winner served up 12 aces and hit 389 winners in a stunning 7-6, 6-2, 6-4 victory against another top-50 opponent.
And at the age of 38, Wawrinka became the oldest man to win a singles match at the US Open since 1992 when Jimmy Connors triumphed on his 40th birthday.
Beating world No 44 Nishioka is no easy feat but Wawrinka, ranked five places lower than his Japanese opponent, was up to the task and hungry for more.
Speaking in a post-match courtside interview, he said: “I was expecting a great match against a great player, but I played really well… and I want more.”
Wawrinka’s last win at the New York slam came four years ago in the Round of 16 when two sets to the good against Novak Djokovic, the Serbian was forced to retire. But Wawrinka missed both the 2020 and 2021 tournaments with an injury himself before his 2022 return was ended in the first round by Frenchman Corentin Moutet.
Victory against Nishioka marked another milestone for Wawrinka. It was his 45th career win at the US Open which is the most victories he has had at any other major, currently tied with the French Open where he has also amassed 45 wins.
It was at the US Open that he achieved his first Grand Slam quarter-final and semi-final appearances in 2010 and 2013 respectively.
The opening set against Nishioka proved to be the most tightly contested, with a tie-break reaching 5-5 before the Japanese star handed his opponent the set with two backhand errors.
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Pressure mounted in the second set with Wawrinka broken for the first time, but Nishioka was broken on either side of that game leading to a 6-2 result in favour of the Swiss native.
Wawrinka then broke Nishioka in the seventh game of the final set before serving out the match. The Swiss will now face Argentinian Tomas Etcheverry in the second round at Flushing Meadows.
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