Injured Wawrinka to take time off after shock Wimbledon exit

Swiss star Stan Wawrinka plans to spend some time away from the court to recover from a knee problem which hampered him during a surprising first-round loss at Wimbledon.

Wawrinka – the fifth seed – was clearly troubled by a knee issue throughout Monday’s shock 6-4 3-6 6-4 6-1 defeat to Russian youngster Daniil Medvedev.

Having also suffered a first-round loss at Queen’s, Wawrinka was unable to avoid another early exit as the three-time grand slam champion struggled with his knee on the grass courts at the All England Club and was forced to regularly ice the joint at the change of ends.

Speaking afterwards, Wawrinka – who exited in the second round at SW19 last year – said: “I wasn’t feeling the way I wanted to feel. But [I played] against a great player who I think was confident, was playing well, was playing faster. [It] was a tough loss.

“For sure [it] was two bad grass court tournaments for me. That’s clear. [The] first one was not what I wanted. Unfortunately it’s like that. I had some problem with the knee since Queen’s, so [it] was not the way I wanted to get ready for this tournament.

“Today was tough. I was expecting to feel a little bit better. When I play a player [at] that level, it’s difficult to win. He went for it, was playing well, so it was a tough, tough day.”

The 32-year-old added: “[The injury is] not something new, but something I had in the past. End of last year and also in Australia.

“But, again, since I had that problem, [it] was the first time I’m playing on grass. Apparently grass is not the best surface for my knee.

“I need to figure it out exactly what’s the problem now, what I’m going to do, and come back on the tennis court when I will [be] feeling without any pain.”

Source: Sacha Pisani| Omnisport