World number four Stan Wawrinka admitted that it has been a “roller coaster” season following his surprise opening -round match at the Shanghai Masters to Gilles Simon of France 5-7, 7-5, 6-4. Wawrinka started the season on a breakthrough note, winning the Australian Open title and also won the Monte Carlo Masters in April. However, he has gone 15-10 since April.
At last month’s US Open, Wawrinka lost in the quarterfinals to eventual finalist Kei Nishikori in a tight five set match. Against Simon this week, he was up 3-0 and a break in the decider but would go on to lose the match.
“I was a break up at 3?0. I did two stupid games then. I had the wind with me, I was rushing a little bit,” Wawrinka said.
“This year has been tough. Last year was a special year. I was playing good almost every tournament. This year is a rollercoaster. I won a Grand Slam, a Masters 1000 and I made some really [expletive] tournaments, losing first round. It’s not easy to stay at the top.”
Wawrinka is almost assured of a place at the ATP World Tour Finals as fellow hopefuls Nishikori, Marin Cilic, Milos Raonic and Andy Murray lost in earlier rounds as well.
