Stan Wawrinka proved age is just a number as he advanced to the semifinals of the BNP Paribas Nordic Open after defeating world number seven Andrey Rublev 7-6 (7-5), 7-6 (7-5). The 39-year-old legend is now the third oldest semi-finalist at an ATP tournament since the tour began in 1990.
Wawrinka delivered great entertainment and fearless shot-making against Rublev, who is battling to qualify for the ATP Finals in Turin. This victory means that Magnus Norman’s protégé is the second oldest player to have beaten a top 10 player in this century, surpassed only by Feliciano López. Only Jimmy Connors and Ivo Karlović have been older when advancing to the semi-finals of an official ATP tournament.
“I’ve trained hard and still feel competitive. Confidence often builds after a few wins, and then it can really take off,” explained a very satisfied Stan Wawrinka.
Also advancing to the semifinals is Tommy Paul, who continues to impress at the Royal Tennis Hall. The fourth-seeded American defeated one of his nightmare opponents, Miomir Kecmanović, 7-6 (11-9), 6-2. Kecmanović led their head-to-head record 3-1 before this match, with his most recent win fresh in memory from the third round at this year’s Australian Open.
“He’s really a tough opponent. We’ve had some battles before where he has won, so I was really motivated for today’s match. I’m happy with how I played,” commented Tommy Paul.
The last remaining Swede has been eliminated from this year’s BNP Paribas Nordic Open. André Göransson and Sem Verbeek lost on Court 1 to the top-seeded Harri Heliövaara and Henry Patten with a score of 6-3, 6-2. This year’s Wimbledon champions will face Tallon Griekspoor and Bart Stevens in tomorrow’s semi-final.
Before that, Griekspoor will play singles during Friday's sold-out evening session. He will face world number eight Casper Ruud, starting at 18:30 on the center court. Following that is an interesting matchup between world number ten Grigor Dimitrov and Swiss rising star Dominic Stricker.
