Wawrinka Sees Off Skugor To Reach Dubai QFs

Second seed Stan Wawrinka finished strongly to beat qualifier Franko Skugor 7-5, 6-1 on Wednesday night in the second round of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships.

Playing in his first tour-level match in nearly six years, Skugor gave Wawrinka a stern test in the first set before eventually losing serve in the 12^th game. After making the breakthrough, Wawrinka raced to the finish line, wrapping up victory in 83 minutes.

“I think it wasn’t amazing, but it’s a good win,” said Wawrinka, who was two points from defeat against Sergiy Stakhovsky in the first round on Tuesday. “Happy to get through to playing in the quarters tomorrow, winning in two sets tonight. There’s a lot to improve, but in general I’m happy to win.”

The 30-year-old Wawrinka is chasing his second ATP World Tour title of the season, after victory in Chennai (d. Coric), and goes on to face Philipp Kohlschreiber, who defeated Borna Coric 6-2, 7-6(5) in one hour and 31 minutes.

Wawrinka leads their FedEx ATP Head2Head series 2-0, but it will be their first meeting since 2008.

“It’s going to be an interesting match,” said Wawrinka. “He’s been there, Top 30, for many, many years. He’s always a tough player, always beating some good players during the year.

“You need to play solid and a good match to beat him. He’s not going to give you the match. Generally he’s playing his level every time. I will have to serve well, play my game and go for it.”