Wawrinka quick to cut down Norrie
Stan Wawrinka, the triple grandslam champion, became the latest big name to welcome Andy Murray back to the tennis tour last night. “It’s never easy when you don’t see a player like him on the court,” said Wawrinka. “You’re not used to it.”
But first Wawrinka had business of his own to attend to, as he claimed only his fifth victory of 2018 over Cameron Norrie, the Brit- ish No 2. Wawrinka is in the middle of his own comeback from injury, having undergone two knee operations last year. Yesterday, he reduced the amount of running he had to do by belting down 13 aces in a quickfire 6-2, 6-3 win.
Wawrinka was also aggressive in his returns and afterwards he admitted that he had found this victory particularly satisfying in the light of his recent drought, in which he has won only one match since the first half of February.
“Mentally, it’s tough when you see how far you are and how long it will take,” said Wawrinka, when asked about his slow march back to a competitive level. “I need to be really patient with myself.
“I improved a lot physically and I am getting closer at least on the practice court. But I know that the next few months will not be easy.” Today’s Centre Court schedule at the Fever-tree Championships looks like a crowd-pleaser, featuring not only Murray but Novak Djokovic and Kyle Edmund, the new British No 1. Meanwhile, Dan Evans will be in action on Court One against Adrian Mannarino, on the same day that the All England Club is due to discuss whether to offer him a wild card. For the second time in a fortnight, Evans was the subject of a letter of support yesterday from Toby Perkins, the Chesterfield MP who is a member of the All Party Parliamentary Group on tennis. Perkins wrote to Richard Lewis, Wimbledon’s chief executive, to suggest that Evans is a deserving case.