By Chris Oddo | Thursday February 22, 2018
Stan Wawrinka had to retire early in the second set after his knee flared up at the Open 13 in Marseille.
Photo Source: Sofia Open
Stan Wawrinka suffered an injury setback on Thursday at the Open 13 in Marseille and had to retire against qualifier Belarusian Ilya Ivashka, down 6-4, 1-1.
Wawrinka was visibly upset as he left the court; he waved to the crowd and buried his head in a towel.
“At 3-3 I hit a forehand volley and it hurt the knee a bit. I felt that it was very tense,” he told the tournament organizer’s website, according to the Associated Press. “After that I simply couldn’t flex it.”
It’s been a rough go for Wawrinka after he left the tour to have his left knee repaired last summer. The Swiss had two surgeries, was on crutches for more than a month, and emerged with a giant scar that ominously covers more than the length of his kneecap.
After rehabbing all winter, he started with some good energy this January, playing in his first match since Wimbledon, he ended up winning a round at the Australian Open before falling to Tennys Sandgren in the second round. He also went to the semis in Sofia before falling to qualifier Mirza Basic. At Rotterdam last week, Wawrinka was toppled by Dutch wild card Tallon Griekspoor.
It might be time for a pit stop.
The 32-year-old owns a record of 3-4 on the season. He will turn 33 this March.
Elsewhere at Marseille, ninth-seeded Karen Khachanov blew past Mischa Zverev, 6-2, 6-1, while eighth-seeded Filip Krajinovic defeated Gilles Simon, 6-3, 6-3.
Sixth-seeded Gilles Muller fell to Nicolas Mahut, 3-6, 6-2, 6-4, making it two 36-year-old Frenchmen in the Open 13 quarterfinals. Julien Benneteau, who upset Roberto Bautista Agut on Wednesday, is the other.
Benneteau and Simon also reached the semifinals in doubles on Thursday, defeating Andre Begemann and Mikhail Kukushkin, 6-2, 6-4.
Fourth-seed Tomas Berdych defeated Italian qualifier Stefano Travaglia, 5-7, 7-6(4), 6-3.