Griekspoor stuns Wawrinka

Originally published on 13/02/18 00:00

The 21-year-old Dutchman, ranked No.259 in the world, stunned a struggling Stan Wawrinka 4-6 6-3 6-2 in the first round of the ABN AMRO in Rotterdam.

It's Griekspoor’s first tournament of the season, and he has already made full use of his wildcard. He will tackle either Robin Haase or Thiemo de Bakker in the last sixteen on Thursday.

It was an unexpected loss for Wawrinka, but it was immediately apparent that he was not at optimum fitness. In just his sixth outing since returning from left knee surgery, he looked laboured and uneasy – especially when forced to defend.

Griekspoor was unable to capitalise on his opponent’s physical issues in the first set, however he soon warmed to his task and performed to a standard that defied his lowly ranking. He dominated the lengthy exchanges and converted his third match-point to seal the biggest win of his short career.

Wawrinka, who commited 41 unforced-errors, is scheduled to play the ATP 250 event in Marseille next week, but his participation must now be in doubt.

Elsewhere at the Ahoy Arena, David Goffin eased past Nicolas Mahut 6-1 6-3, Viktor Troicki edged Jan-Lennard Struff 1-6 7-6(5) 6-2 and Philipp Kohlschreiber pipped Karen Khachanov 3-6 7-6(1) 7-6(5).

Daniil Medvedev was also a winner on day 2. The Russian took out Gilles Muller 6-4 7-6(9).

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