betprepare.com

Wawrinka: I didn't play well, but I fought

Anderson won nearly 80% of points against Fognini's second service. He lost a service game early in the match, but didn't allow any surprises since there on. The Swiss manage to save a match-point in his match, but he's now meeting a great server. He always struggled in their head-to-head matches

Getty Images

A lot of tennis players seem to be friends, but it's more likely they're just colleagues. But what Wawrinka and Paire have is real friendship. Wawrika seems to be Paire's role model, but that doesn't mean he didn't want to beat him. Just the opposite.

Paire opened the match better, missed two break-points in the first game, but managed to win it anyway. He didn't struggle with keeping the lead since Wawrinka didn't have any break points till the second set. As soon as he did, he won the break, and the result was 1-1 in sets. Paire had a break point in the final set, but the managed to save it, and won the match in a tie-break.

- I wasn't doing well but I fought. I didn't move well, and I was too hesitant at crucial moments. It was even harder since Benoit allows very little pace - Wawrinka said. 

- This is the second time in a row that I lose after the third set tie break. I'm getting close to him, but I'm not good enough physically. I think the fact I'm no longer in Top 10 bothers me too much. I pushed in the end, but that wouldn't happen if I won more matches this season. I didn't have the confidence, or the power to stand up to him in the finish.

It seems like Anderson is emotion-free when playing, which is definitely not the case with Fognini. The Italian lost their head-to-head match in Wimbledon, which could have served him as motivation here. But, he has been doing disappointingly the last few weeks, and the winning mentality he had this season was no longer with him.

Their first services were equally efficient, but the Italian managed to win only 22% of his second service points. On top of that, he recorded 7 double-faults, allowing the opponent 6 break-points. Anderson lost only one service game, but quickly won it back, and then won another one for the first set. That was a huge blow to Fognini's fragile mindset, causing a bad defeat in the second set. After only half an hour of the second set, the match came to its end.

This is the fourth Anderson and Wawrinka's meeting in 4 years. Each of those matches were played on hard court. The Swiss won the first three, but Anderson won the match at Indian Wells this year. Wawrinka seemed tired and unmotivated in that match. An injury was being mentioned as a reason for it, but he never used that as an excuse. He said he was drained mentally, and that's what caused the defeat. But that won't be a problem now since he's had enough time to rest. But his game might be. Against Paire, it seemed a bit rusty. The third set was played in 3 out of those 4 head-to-head matches.