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Former winner Wawrinka fails at the French Open in the third round. Image: keystone
0: 6 in fifth set – Stan Wawrinka misses over young Frenchman Gaston
Stan Wawrinka was eliminated in the 3rd round of the French Open. The Lausanne man lost to 20-year-old French outsider Hugo Gaston (ATP 239) after a long rain break in 3:10 hours 6: 2, 3: 6, 3: 6, 6: 4, 0: 6.
The evocative round of 16 duel between Wawrinka, the 2015 Roland Garros winner, and Dominic Thiem, the finalist for the last two years and the 2020 US Open winner, has exploded. The Swiss are no longer represented in the men’s and women’s tournaments.
Too many long-term mistakes
After two convincing appearances at first, Wawrinka had to bite into strong Gaston. In difficult conditions with sporadic drizzles and again temperatures lower than 13 degrees, more and more minor errors crept into his game and the Swiss had a hangover as in the previous round against Dominik Koepfer, but this time it lasted longer. After winning the first set in still dry conditions, Wawrinka was unable to dictate the rallies against the young southpaw as he wished for long stretches.
Young Hugo Gaston showed a strong performance against Wawrinka. Image: keystone
The small and extremely strong 1.73m Gaston, who is only contesting his second Grand Slam tournament, also played big. Time and time again he broke Wawrinka’s rhythm with stop balls and variable play. Conditions also complicated Wawrinka’s job. In the beginning, he could often score with his serve, balls that had become heavy stole this weapon from him.
Gaston, who became the last remaining 18 Frenchmen in the men’s draw to become the host nation’s bearer of hope, is the lowest-ranked player in the last 16 at Roland-Garros for 18 years. (dab / sda)
