Stan Wawrinka wasn’t acting his age on Wednesday during a first-round victory over Serbia’s Hamad Medjedovic in the first round of the Open Occitanie on Wednesday in Montpellier, France.
The 40-year-old Swiss veteran prevailed 7-6 (3), 6-4 to become the oldest man to win an ATP Tour indoor match since 1980 (excluding the Davis Cup). The last player older than Wawrinka to log an indoor win was Ken Rosewall, then 45.
A wild-card entrant who is ranked 113th in the world, Wawrinka won despite putting just 38% of his first serves in play. He saved four of the five break points he faced.
Two seeded players lost their second-round matches.
Tomas Machac of the Czech Republic, the third seed, trailed France’s Arthur Gea 6-3, 4-5 before retiring because of a knee injury. Adrian Mannarino rallied past fifth-seeded Ugo Humbert 6-7 (4), 6-3, 7-6 (4) in an all-French matchup.
Eighth-seeded Aleksandar Kovacevic of the United States overtook 16-year-old French qualifier Moise Kouame 6-7 (5), 6-2, 6-2 in first-round action. Also earning first-round wins were Italy’s Luca Nardi and the U.S. qualifier Martin Damm.
–Field Level Media
