Wawrinka’s victory over the No. 29-ranked Rinderknech was also his first Top 30 win in more than eight months, since beating a No. 26-ranked Alexei Popyrin at a Challenger event last May.
And he had to survive several brushes with defeat to do it.
In the second set, he not only served to stay in the match twice, at 4-5 and 5-6, but he was also two points away from losing at 5-all in the tie-break. Then in the third set, not only was he down an early break at 2-1, but after getting back on serve, he eventually found himself down 4-2 in the third set tie-break—he was even two points away from losing again at 5-all in the breaker.
But one last mini-break on the next point is all it took to bring up his first match point, and he closed it out right then and there when one last Rinderknech forehand clipped the net.
“Twenty years on tour, you kind of always play the same places and tournaments, so for me it’s amazing to have this opportunity to play this year here in Perth for the first time,” he said afterwards.
“It’s amazing to play with a team tournament with the women, too. Today was tough but I’m really happy to start that way.”
