Wawrinka survives early scare

STANISLAS Wawrinka clawed back from a set down to begin the defence of his Chennai Open title with a win yesterday.

Wawrinka, seeded third, played for nearly two-and-a-half hours to beat Frenchman Edouard Roger-Vasselin 3-6, 6-3, 7-5 in his first match of the year. The Swiss set up a quarter-final against Japanese qualifier Go Soeda, who beat fifth-seeded Ivan Dodig of Croatia 7-6 (6), 6-3 in the second round. “It is never easy playing the first match of the season,” Wawrinka said.

Roger-Vasselin replaced injured Indian Somdev Devvarman in the main draw and almost made his first ATP quarter-finals. He was up a break in the final set but Wawrinka broke back in the tenth and lifted his game to clinch the thriller. Fourth-seeded Milos Raonic, of Canada, thumped Romania’s Victor Hanescu. In the last eight, He meets Dudi Sela of Israel, who beat France’s Benoit Paire.