Stan Wawrinka fights off Borna Coric to win at Cincinnati Masters
Wednesday 19 August 2015 23:06, UK
Stan Wawrinka fought off Borna Coric's bid to cause another upset as the fourth seed reached the third round of the Cincinnati Masters with a 3-6 7-6 (7-3) 6-3 win on Wednesday.
French Open champion Wawrinka produced a lacklustre performance against the 18-year-old Croatian, but still managed to battle back form a set down to set up a meeting with Ivo Karlovic.
The fourth seed didn't take control until he broke Coric's serve in the sixth game of the third set and then held for a 5-2 lead before serving out the match.
After his win the Swiss star spoke to Sky Sports 3 HD and was asked by presenter Marcus Buckland how he felt mentally after the saga involving Nick Kyrgios.
The Australian sparked a global uproar after an on-court microphone recorded him utter an insult involving Wawrinka's "girlfriend" and Australian player Thanasi Kokkinakis at the Montreal Masters last week.
"I'm there ... I'm trying to do my job," said Wawrinka. "Today, I'm happy with the way I was fighting, even if I was playing bad tennis. But most important is the win."
Asked if wanted to draw a line under the Nick Kyrgios incident at the Montreal Masters last week, the world No 5 said: "I'm trying to put (it) away. But what happened, people don't see exactly the consequence for everybody, so i'm trying to put it away."
And asked if he was happy that Kyrgios has done what he should have done in the circumstances afterwards and apologised to all the people involved in the matter, he replied: "Uh, he didn't apologise, so no. But I prefer not to talk about him, thank you."
Twelfth-seeded Richard Gasquet survived a first-set tie-breaker and advanced with a 7-6 (7-5) 6-2 win over qualifier Thanasi Kokkinakis. Gasquet will face seventh-seeded Marin Cilic in the third round.
Meanwhile, Jerzy Janowicz beat wild card Jared Donaldson 6-4 7-6 (7-4) while the improving David Goffin beat Fernando Verdasco 6-4 7-6 (7-4) and the experienced Tommy Robredo came through in three sets against Sam Querrey 6-1 5-7 6-3.
