By Chris Oddo | Wednesday August 19, 2015
Stan Wawrinka battled back to defeat Stan Wawrinka in Cincinnati, but he's still battling to put the last week's sledging incident in Montreal behind him.
photo Source: Christopher Levy
Stan Wawrinka came back from a set down to defeat 18-year-old sensation Borna Coric, 3-6, 7-6(3), 6-3 at the Western and Southern Open in Cincinnati, but the post-match buzz was still focused squarely on last week’s widely publicized sledge from Nick Kyrgios.
Pic Tricks: Day 2 Western and Southern Open Photo Gallery
The World No. 5 appeared a little weary, both on the court and in the press room, and while eager to put the topic as far in the rearview as possible, Wawrinka was kind enough to give reporters one last shot at the topic.
“As I say, I'm dealing with all the shit and I'm trying to put away as much as I can,” Wawrinka told reporters today after his second-round win over Coric.
“We still talk a lot about it,” Wawrinka added. “For sure it's quite fresh, so we'll see. For me it's a really important match today to win it. Not the way I play, not the way I am on the court, but the way I fight with little energy that I have. That's the most important.”
As the moderator sought to end the press conference, Wawrinka urged reporters to fire away so he could be done with the questions once and for all. “No more English questions?” he said. “I'm asking because I don't want to talk about it anymore, so let's finish it today.”
Wawrinka, who told reporters that Kyrgios still hasn’t apologized to the people that matter, said he has received a lot of support in the locker room in the aftermath of the incident. But when he pressed he refused to say if more punishment in addition to the $12.5K in fines for Kyrgios should be in order.
He added that he trusts the ATP to handle the matter correctly.
“[There is] A lot of anger in the locker room for what he did,” Wawrinka said. “As I say, I think as a player, you realize more what he did and what's the consequence for private life, for [people] involved in that case. That's not just few words, but with one sentence he can touch a lot and hurt a lot of people. I had a lot of support in the locker room, that's for sure.”
Wawrinka moves on in Cincinnati to face Ivo Karlovic in the round of 16. Hopefully for him, he’ll be able to focus more on the tennis than the infamous sledge heard ‘round the world.
As far as the US Open goes, Wawrinka seemed confident that he’d be able to get his head in the proper space to defend his quarterfinal points in New York.
“I know how I get ready for Grand Slam,” he said. “I know how I deal with everything. I'm sure I'm going to be ready for US Open.”
In other men’s action on Wednesday at Cincinnati, Richard Gasquet defeated Thanasi Kokkinakis, 7-6(2), 6-2, to set up a round of 16 encounter with Marin Cilic.
Jerzy Janowicz, who defeated American Jared Donaldson, and David Goffin, who defeated Fernando Verdasco, were also winners. <