Stan Wawrinka can't wait to perform at Sofia Open in February
A former world no. 3 and the three-time Grand Slam champion Stan Wawrinka will make his second appearance at the Sofia Open in February, joining a strong field led by Karen Khachanov, Stefanos Tsitsipas and Daniil Medvedev. After an early exit at the Australian Open at the beginning of 2018 season, Stan went to Sofia and reached the semi-final where he lost to Mirza Basic in two tight sets, scoring one of his best results in a comeback season after missing the second part of 2017 due to a knee injury that required a surgery in August.
Stan closed the season with 17 wins in 34 matches, missing three months of action after additional knee problems and dropping out from the top-250 for the first time since 2003! After the quarter-final run in Geneva, Wawrinka played well in Toronto and Cincinnati before losing to Milos Raonic in the third round of the US Open, playing just three more tournaments by the end of the year. The Swiss was the semi-finalist in St. Petersburg and he closed the season with the first round loss against Borna Coric in Shanghai, taking some rest before starting intense preparations for 2019.
Ranked inside the top-70, Stan is eager to return where he belongs in the season ahead of us, heading to Doha to enter the Qatar Open for the first time since 2008 when he lost in the final to Andy Murray. After the Australian Open, Wawrinka will compete in Sofia for the second year in a row, sending the message to his Bulgarian fans and hoping for another great result against some of the best players in the world.
"A throwback to February 2018 when I played the Sofia Open for the first time and got to visit the beautiful Alexander Nevsky Cathedral. Looking forward to coming back to the Sofia tournament in February 2019 and with such a strong player field there are sure to be some epic battles on the court. I hope to see all my fans in the stadium supporting me."
from Tennis World USA http://bit.ly/2AgD9JH
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