Stan Wawrinka makes Australian Open round two
Stan Wawrinka needed only two sets to progress to the Australian Open second round after Dmitry Tursunov retired hurt with a hip injury on Tuesday.
Fourth seed Wawrinka, a champion at Melbourne Park in 2014, was leading 7-6 (7-2) 6-3 when Tursunov succumbed to his injury on Margaret Court Arena.
Tursunov - competing in a first grand slam match since the 2014 US Open - went toe-to-toe with the reigning French Open champion in a tight first stanza and even had set point on Wawrinka's serve at 6-5.
However, Wawrinka saw off the danger with three massive serves and the Swiss quickly raced through the tie-break.
That seemingly broke Tursunov's resolve and, after falling 3-0 down in the second, the Russian required a medical time out.
He managed to get on the scoreboard in a nine-minute fourth game, but the effort he had exerted was clearly taking its toll and when Wawrinka powered to a two-set lead that proved to be the end for Tursunov.
STATISTICAL BREAKDOWN
Wawrinka [4] bt Tursunov 7-6 (7-2) 6-3 retired
ACES
Wawrinka - 14
Tursunov - 2
WINNERS/UNFORCED ERRORS
Wawrinka - 36/21
Tursunov - 13/23
BREAK POINTS WON
Wawrinka - 1/9
Tursunov - 0/1
FIRST SERVE PERCENTAGE
Wawrinka - 62
Tursunov - 63
PERCENTAGE OF POINTS WON ON FIRST/SECOND SERVE
Wawrinka - 89/65
Tursunov - 62/61
TOTAL POINTS
Wawrinka - 82
Tursunov - 66