Former World No. 3 Stan Wawrinka continued his return to form on Friday, ousting defending champion Damir Dzumhur 6-3, 6-4 to reach the semi-finals of the St. Petersburg Open. It is the Swiss' first trip to the last four of any event since February, when he did so at the Diema Xtra Sofia Open in Bulgaria.
"I think it was a great match," Wawrinka said. "I adapted a little bit my game. I found exactly what to do. I think in general, the level was great. I was mixing a lot the speed, I'm moving well, I've been aggressive when I needed to, some good defence. I think it was a complete match, and I'm really happy with the high level today."
Before the Western & Southern Open in August, Wawrinka had not won three matches at a single tournament all season. But he has now done so twice in the span of just more than a month.
It appeared the 33-year-old would face a stern test when Dzumhur, who beat him in the pair's only previous FedEx ATP Head2Head meeting last year in Dubai, broke early on. But from there, the World No. 88 showed glimpses of his vintage shotmaking to blast past the sixth seed after 72 minutes. Wawrinka saved three of the four break points he faced and won 71 per cent of service points en route to his triumph.
In the next round, he will face Slovakian Martin Klizan, the 2012 champion who recovered from a set and 3-5 down to knock out seventh-seeded Canadian Denis Shapovalov 3-6, 7-5, 6-3 in two hours and four minutes.
Klizan, who beat second seed Fabio Fognini in the second round, is playing in his first ATP World Tour tournament since lifting his sixth crown at the Generali Open in Kitzbuhel (d. Istomin) on 4 August. The 29-year-old has a perfect 6-0 record in tour-level finals and will look to reach a seventh championship match when he faces Wawrinka, who owns a 3-0 lead in their FedEx ATP Head2Head series.
Top seed Dominic Thiem guaranteed that there will not be a Russian champion in St. Petersburg for the 13th consecutive edition, as the Austrian battled past home favourite Daniil Medvedev 6-2, 3-6, 7-6(2).
“I’m very sorry that I beat a Russian guy, but I think it was a great match from the beginning until the end,” Thiem said. “[A] tie-break in a deciding set is always lucky, so I’m lucky that I won.”
Thiem utilised strong tactics in the match's crucial third-set tie-break, slicing his backhand repeatedly to keep the pace of the rally slow until he could explode and hit a heavy forehand to take control of the point. The World No. 8 only converted three of 15 break points in the clash, but he struck 10 aces in his two-hour, seven-minute victory.
He will next face fifth seed Roberto Bautista Agut, who overcame a tough opening set to defeat third seed Marco Cecchinato 7-6(0), 6-3. It has been a strong bounceback week for the Spaniard, who arrived in Russia on a three-match tour-level losing streak. Bautista Agut has won all three of his FedEx ATP Head2Head meetings against Thiem.
"So far I have no idea how to beat him," Thiem said. "He won all three matches, so I have to put up something new. But we practise often together, he’s a really nice guy, so I’m looking forward to facing him in a great semi-final.”
Did You Know?
While Wawrinka has never lost to Klizan, the Slovakian has won the first set in two of their three previous meetingsreadfullarticle
