ATP 250 tournament – Switzerland strong in Stockholm: Wawrinka and Stricker win – Sport

Stan Wawrinka and Dominic Stricker celebrate their two wins in straight sets in Sweden.

Stan Wawrinka (ATP 217) was able to celebrate one of his most valuable victories in the crisis year 2024. The 39-year-old Romand defeated number 6 seeded American Brandon Nakashima (ATP 38) 6:4, 6:4 in the first round of the ATP 250 tournament in Stockholm.

Wawrinka started strong and never let up. In the first set he did not allow Nakashima a break point. He also broke serve early in round 2 and took home the lead. It was Wawrinka’s 3rd win over Nakashima in the 3rd straight duel.

His opponent is Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, number 64 in the world ranking. He has never played against the 25-year-old Spaniard.

Stricker is already in the quarterfinals

After Wawrinka, Dominic Stricker (ATP 317) also celebrated an important victory. In his second round match against the Italian Matteo Berrettini (ATP 42), the Bernese won 7:6 (8:6), 6:4, showing his fighting qualities again and again. In the first round, Stricker held off two set points from the former world number 6 in the tiebreak before using his first serve to win the set.

In the second set, Stricker had to save 5 break points, but as was the case throughout the match, he never gave up on his serve. He made the only break of the game himself – to make it 6:4 and win.

In the next round, the 22-year-old will face either Quentin Halys (FRA/ATP 95) or Grigor Dimitrov (BUL/ATP 10). This game will not be played until Thursday evening. Thanks to the quarter final qualification, it is already clear that Stricker will move up around 60 places in the world ranking to the region around 250th place.