Swiss Indoors Basel 2016: Thursday Tennis Scores, Results, Updated Draw Schedule
Top seed Stanislas Wawrinka had to work hard to secure his place in the third round of the Swiss Indoors, as he took three sets to get past Donald Young 7-6 (4), 6-7 (3), 6-4 on Thursday.
After edging ahead in the opening set, Wawrinka was pegged back by his determined opponent. It took the match into a fascinating decider, which the U.S. Open champion eventually saw out comfortably.
There were also impressive displays from Juan Martin del Porto and Marin Cilic, who each moved into Round 3 with straight-sets wins.
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Here’s a look at the day’s results and a recap of how the action panned out in Basel, Switzerland:
| [4] Marin Cilic bt. Pablo Carreno Busta | 6-0, 7-6 (4) |
| Juan Martin del Potro bt. [5] David Goffin | 7-5, 6-3 |
| Marcel Granollers bt. [8] Jack Sock | 6-3, 6-1 |
| Gilles Muller bt. Florian Mayer | 6-3, 6-2 |
| [1] Stanislas Wawrinka bt. Donald Young | 7-6 (4), 6-7 (3), 6-4 |
| Mischa Zverev bt. Guido Pella | 6-4, 6-2 |
| Gilles Muller | vs. | Federico Delbonis |
| [3] Kei Nishikori | vs. | Juan Martin del Potro |
| [1] Stanislas Wawrinka | vs. | Mischa Zverev |
| [4] Marin Cilic | vs. | Marcel Granollers |
Wawrinka Battles Through
Neither player gave an inch in the early stages of the marquee match, as Wawrinka and Young each settled into a quick rhythm on serve.
Wawrinka applied the most pressure while returning, but Young was dogged, saving any break points he faced and eventually taking the first stanza into a tiebreak. However, when the set reached this precarious point, it was no surprise the U.S. Open champion had an edge, seeing it out 7-4.
As the event's Twitter account showed, Wawrinka had some distinguished guests keeping track of his progress:
"Minister of finance Ueli Maurer and President Roger Brennwald watching @stanwawrinka vs @Yimlife1313. pic.twitter.com/FfBopFiLOk
— Swiss Indoors (@_Swiss_Indoors) October 27, 2016"
From there, the crowd favourite took over for a spell, breaking Young early in the second set, finding a pattern in his play and manufacturing a position to serve for the match.
However, the man from the United States dug deep with his tournament status on the line, breaking Wawrinka to make it 5-4 and then levelling things up on his own serve. For the second time, the duo battled to a tiebreak, and this time, Young was rewarded for his unbending resilience, pushing the match into a decider.
The American may have thought the comeback was on at this juncture, but Wawrinka upped his game at the start of the third, breaking at the first opportunity. That was enough to finally deflate Young, allowing the world No. 3 to eventually get over the line.
After some tough years, 2016 has been more enjoyable for del Potro, who continued his upward trajectory with an excellent performance against David Goffin.
While the Argentinian is renowned for his sweeping groundstrokes and power play, he was forced to dig in during the opener, with Goffin putting pressure on his serve. However, del Potro resisted, and when his chance came at the end of the set, he took the first break point to grasp the opener 7-5.
Perhaps stunned after losing the first stanza, Goffin began the second set slowly, falling a break down early.
As TennisTV shared, his opponent was in brilliant form:
From that point on, del Potro was in control, and despite Goffin’s best efforts, the Argentinian saw out the second set 6-3.
Cilic is looking like a potential contender for the title, too, as he produced some scintillating tennis in his match against Pablo Carreno Busta.
The Croatian star didn’t hold back from the off. The former U.S. Open champion was at his magnificent best in the opening stanza, using his brute strength and formidable serve to leave his opponent swiping at thin air on many occasions; it took him just 20 minutes to win the opener 6-0.
As TennisTV showed, Carreno looked bemused as Cilic romped through the opening set:
The second was tighter, going to a tiebreak, and when the Spaniard went ahead 4-0, he looked ready to take the match into a decider. However, Cilic produced another one of his brilliant bursts, remarkably winning seven points in a row to clinch the match.
Earlier in the day, Gilles Muller and Marcel Granollers both secured comfortable straight-sets wins over Florian Mayer and Jack Sock, respectively.
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