Stan Wawrinka hits stumbling block as injury forces withdrawal from home event

Stan Wawrinka will not be able to continue his comeback next week after the former world number three pulled out of the ATP 250 Geneva Open. 

The three-time Slam champion was set to enter the main draw by way of a wildcard.

But Wawrinka has told tournament organisers that he cannot compete on the clay in Switzerland, though the exact injury has not been made public.

Tournament director Thierry Grin told AFP: “It’s a disappointment because obviously we are in Switzerland.

“He won the tournament twice, he was the ambassador of the tournament for the first three years after it returned to Geneva.

“Unfortunately he is injured. It happens.”

After its last edition in 1991 the event returned to Geneva in 2015 before Wawrinka won the tournament back-to-back in 2016 and 2017.

The 37-year-old was no doubt looking to carry momentum from Rome onto the Swiss dirt.

Wawrinka claimed his first win for 15 months by downing 2021 Italian Open semi-finalist Reilly Opelka in his opening match of the Masters draw.

He then backed up that victory by ousting tricky clay-courter Laslo Djere to set a 26th career tour level meeting with world number one Novak Djokovic.

After the five-time Rome champion eased past his rival, he spoke about how good it was to see Wawrinka back on the biggest stages of the sport.

Ranked 361st in the world entering Rome, Wawrinka’s run has seen him climb 105 place in the live rankings, meaning he will be 256th in the world come Monday.

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