Wawrinka Eliminated from Sofia open

    Stan Wawrinka. Photo by Mike Frey/BPI/REX/Shutterstock (9322176w)

    Swiss player Stan Wawrinka is out of the tournament in Sofia. The first seed in the Bulgarian capital was eliminated by a player from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Mirza Basic 0-2, 6-7 4-6.

    This is by far the biggest surprise of the Sofia Open. Everybody expected to see the three-time Grand Slam champion easily reaching the finals after today’s match. The odds at bookmakers gave 10 to 1 chances for Basic to win, and whoever invested his money on him, earned a lot of cash.

    The opening set was won by the 26-year-old after a tie-brake, in which he used his third set-ball.

    It seemed that Wawrinka is going to be back in the game when he took the serve from Bosnian player in the early stage of the second set. But eventually, he couldn’t hold on to that advantage and lost both of his last two service games.

    Dreams about a title here were lost for him.

    “For sure, I’m disappointed and sad with the result to lose the semifinal,” Wawrinka said. “I think he played a great match. He was playing good. He was trying to be aggressive on the court. When I arrive here, I’m not yet where I want to be, so I’m trying to get back my level.”

    The winner was shining after the match.

    “For today’s match I think I served very well both sets,” Basic said. “I think I played a very good match. I know he’s a big player—whatever he does it’s normal—so I’m very happy.

    “I was just thinking to do my best. I was very focused, I was in the present and this helped me to make the match more clear.”

    Basic will face Marius Copil, the Romanian who eliminated Jozef Kovalik in the second semifinal with 6-4 6-2.