It was by no means an easy afternoon for Stan Wawrinka on Day 2 of the Australian Open, but the Swiss star cleared a major hurdle by defeating Ricardis Berankis in four sets to win his first match since Wimbledon of last season.
Wawrinka lost the plot a bit after jumping out to a two sets to love lead but managed to regroup and battle back from 3-0 down in set four to avoid a fifth set.
“Was a tough one in all aspect of the game, of the energy,” he said after his 6-3, 6-4, 2-6, 7-6(2) victory over the Lithuanian. “But in general, I'm really happy to get through a match like that, to fight the way I did today, to win the match like this.”
Wawrinka, who underwent knee surgery last summer and spent two months on crutches, says his surgically repaired knee help up as well as he could expect.
“As I say, I still have some pain,” he said. “It depends the way I'm moving, how I push on it. In general, it's going the right direction. That's the best news. To see that the knee is keeping it, that I can play a match with the stress, back being tight, with hesitation. The knee that doesn't move even after three hours, so that's great.”
Wawrinka will square off with American Tennys Sandgren in the second round.