Stan Wawrinka falls at the first hurdle at Sofia Open

Shahida Jacobs 05 Feb 2019 8:32 AM

Stan Wawrinka’s struggle to return to top form continues as the three-time Grand Slam winner suffered an early exit from the Sofia Open.

The Swiss player made a good start against Marius Copil, winning the first set, but it then went awry as he fell to a 3-6, 7-6 (7-5), 6-4 defeat in one hour and 48 minutes.

3rd time's a charm. 🙌@MariusCopil converts his 3rd match point to earn his first career victory over Stan Wawrinka in 3 tries, 3-6 7-6(5) 6-4. #SofiaOpen pic.twitter.com/UmCnC6NW6r

— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) February 4, 2019

Wawrinka required only 23 minutes to win the opening set, but the Romanian held firm in the second set and eventually took the tie-breaker to square things.

An early break of serve in the third game of the decider was enough to earn the world No 56 the win.

“It’s great to start with a win against Wawrinka,” Copil said after the win. “I made a few mistakes at the beginning. I had to change things, I knew I had to stay in the game after losing the first set.

“I served well today. The serve has always been my main weapon.”

Matthew Ebden from Australia set up a second-round encounter against fourth seed Roberto Bautista Agut with a 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 (7-5) win over Adrian Andreev.

Karen Khachanov, Stefanos Tsitsipas and Daniil Medvedev are the top three sets and they have byes into the second round.