Former champ Stan Wawrinka battles to opening Monte Carlo win; Matteo Berrettini snaps skid

When Stan Wawrinka took Court Rainier III at the 2022 Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters, the three-time major winner was ranked No. 236. His eventual three-set defeat to Alexander Bublik from a set up was his first ATP Tour appearance in more than a year following a pair of left foot surgeries.

On Monday, Wawrinka, now ranked 88th, returned to the same venue for another gritty opening battle. And this time, the 2014 champion prevailed, overcoming Tallon Griekspoor, 5-7, 6-3, 6-4, after two hours and 27 minutes.

“I’m really pushing myself to improve. With my ranking, I can really play anyone in the first round, so it’s not easy to put a goal to be like Top 50 or whatever,” Wawrinka told Tennis Channel’s Prakash Amritraj. “I know my level, I know I can beat a lot of players.”

The 38-year-old wild card came through a tense 18-point final game against Griekspoor, who saved five match points and had two chances to get back on serve. Wawrinka finally shut the door when the Dutchman netted a forehand.

“I was struggling with my game in general. I was battling with myself to be more confident with what I was doing,” he said. “It’s never easy, age doesn’t help. You need to trust what you’re doing in practice. I’m happy to get through that one.”

Perhaps caffeine will provide some assistance in his second-round clash with Taylor Fritz, as Wawrinka cheekily grabbed a Tennis Channel mug upon Amritraj asking him to come back to the desk again.

“I will try but I’m leaving with this cup for my coffee,” the beaming Swiss said.

Matteo Berrettini also had reason to smile, after rolling over Maxime Cressy, 6-4, 6-2, to win his first match in three attempts at the 1000-level tournament.

“Last time I played on clay was last July, so I didn’t know what to expect. I never won a match here, even though I live here, so a lot of ifs,” he expressed to Amritraj.

The Italian, who was 5-6 on the year coming in, compiled 17 winners to 11 unforced errors and received 16 double faults from Cressy on his way to breaking serve three times in the 86-minute encounter. With it came his 150th career tour-level victory and the snapping of a four-match losing streak at ATP events (won a pair of matches at the Phoenix Challenger in March), a stretch where the 2021 Wimbledon runner-up needed to rediscover his passion for the sport.

“Unfortunately in my career, I came back many times from injuries, from moments where I wasn’t feeling the best. In the last months, I had to deal with all the stops that I had in the last years,” said Berrettini. “At a certain point, I looked to myself and I felt empty a little bit—the tank was empty. I had to find new energy, work with my team planning new goals, new motivations.

“I’m glad that I’m here. I’m smiling again. I’m happy to play tennis.”

Berrettini will next face Francisco Cerundolo. The Argentine ousted No. 11 seed Cameron Norrie, 6-3, 6-4.