Stan Wawrinka insists injury not behind ATP World Tour Finals loss
Monday 14 November 2016 17:45, UK
Stan Wawrinka refused to blame injury for his abject performance against Kei Nishikori at the ATP World Tour Finals in London on Monday.
The world No 3 was broken twice in each set on the way to a 6-2 6-3 defeat that leaves his chances of qualifying for this weekend's semi-finals in peril.
Wawrinka complained of a knee problem in the build-up to the tournament and took to the court wearing a strapping, but he insisted he had not been hampered by it.
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Speaking in his post-match press conference, he said: "It was not a great match compared to what I can do, that's for sure. In general, I think he played well and put a lot of pressure on from the beginning.
"I was a little bit slow on everything. I was hesitating a lot with my game, my movement.
"I was feeling better on the court [than previous days], so I thought I could play at a better level today. I was expecting a good match. Didn't happen today."
Nishikori, meanwhile, is setting his sights on overtaking Wawrinka in the ATP world rankings after beating the Swiss with an excellent all-round display.
Just 210 points now separate world No 3 Wawrinka, No 4 Milos Raonic and No 5 Nishikori after the first round-robin matches, with a potential 1,300 points still available this week.
Nishikori said: "I felt very comfortable out there. I started very good, so I was very confident. I saw that he wasn't playing his best and he was missing. I saw a lot of opportunity today, so I tried to be aggressive.
"I'm not thinking too much about rankings, but would be nice if I could finish No 4 or No 3. I see a good chance to be there if I can play good this week. That's one of my goal this week.
"Also next year I hope I can stay No 4 or No 3 and try to catch up Andy [Murray] and Djoko [Novak Djokovic]."
Watch every day of the ATP World Tour Finals, from November 13-20, live on Sky Sports. Full schedule here.
