Stanislas Wawrinka (VCORE Tour 97) had a great start to the clay-court season by winning the 2013 Portugal Open title. Following the tournament in Oeiras, Stan also progressed to the final at Mutua Madrid Open last week.
Aspiring to claim the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 trophy, Stan defeated 2 seeded players to meet clay-court expert Rafael Nadal. After overcoming the world No. 8 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the quarterfinals, he faced Tomas Berdych who was last year’s finalist at this tournament. It was a tough match and Stan was under pressure from the opponent’s aggressive serves, but he delivered on 4 breaks during the match to win 6-3 4-6 6-4.
It was the second time for Stan to play in a final in the Masters 1000 series event. Following the results, Stan’s ATP ranking propelled to 10th in the world.
In the women’s event, 2 YONEX players, Ana Ivanovic (EZONE Xi 98) and Angelique Kerber (VCORE Xi 100), faced off in the quarterfinal. Ana played persistently to overcome Angelique with 6 breaks of serve, 6-3 6-1. Ana’s WTA ranking jumped to 13th and now the ladies are ready for Roland Garros.