Wawrinka posts his first ATP Tour win of the season

Stan Wawrinka earned his first tour-level win of the season on Tuesday at the Tiriac Open presented by UniCredit Bank, where he defeated qualifier Timofey Skatov.

The Swiss, who turned 40 last Friday, recovered from squandering three match points in the second set to eventually triumph 6-4, 6-7 (5), 7-6 (1) at the ATP 250 event in Bucharest.

With his three-hour, 16-minute win, the former No. 3 in the PIF ATP Rankings recorded a tour-level victory in a 22nd different season (2003, 2005-2025), while he is just the third player aged 40 or over to win a tour-level match on clay since 1980, joining Jimmy Connors and Ivo Karlovic.

Wawrinka will play second seed Pedro Martinez in the second round.

Wawrinka is one of the most successful players of his generation and this year’s Wild Card holder.

The Swiss has won three Grand Slam titles - Australian Open (2014), Roland Garros (2015) and US Open (2016) - defeating Big Four players in the finals.

He was ranked as high as No 3 ATP in 2014 and played a key role in Switzerland’s 2014 Davis Cup victory alongside Roger Federer. Throughout his career, Wawrinka has won 16 ATP titles, distinguished by a powerful baseline game and a one-handed backhand considered one of the most spectacular on the circuit.

In other action, defending champion Marton Fucsovics made a winning return to Bucharest, where he overcame Italian Luca Nardi 6-3, 6-1.

The Hungarian will play Mariano Navone in the second round in a rematch of last year’s final.

Eighth seed Camilo Ugo Carabelli arrived in Romania fresh off a run to the third round in Miami.

The Argentine defeated Radu Albot 6-4, 6-3 in the pair’s first Lexus ATP Head2Head meeting and will next play qualifier Filip Misolic after the Austrian beat Alexander Shevchenko 6-3, 6-4.

There was also victory for Argentina’s Francisco Comesana. Playing at a career-high No 64 in the PIF ATP Rankings, the 24-year-old rallied from a set and 1-4 to down Slovakian qualifier Martin Klizan 4-6, 7-5, 7-5.

Comesana, who won 80 per cent of his first serves according to Infosys ATP Stats, will take on fifth seed Roberto Bautista Agut in the second round following the Spaniard’s 3-6, 6-2, 7-5 win against Buyunchaokete.

Bautista Agut has now earned 100 tour-level victories on clay, winning two titles on the surface.

Canadian Gabriel Diallo set a second-round clash with top seed Sebastian Baez after he eliminated Chun-Hsin Tseng 7-6(5), 7-6(2).