(Reuters) – Three-times major champion Stan Wawrinka suffered a straight sets defeat on Tuesday at the ATP Challenger Tour event in Marbella, Spain, on his return to competition after being sidelined for over a year with a foot injury.
Former world number three Wawrinka lost 6-2 6-4 to Sweden’s 131st-ranked Elias Ymer at the claycourt event where former U.S. Open champion Dominic Thiem is also making his return from a wrist injury he suffered last year.
Wawrinka, who turned 37 on Monday, suffered a foot injury in early 2021 and underwent surgery. Before the defeat to Ymer he had not played since his opening loss at the Qatar Open in early March last year.
The Swiss, who has slipped to 232nd in the rankings due to his lengthy injury absence, lost his first and last service games in the opening set against Ymer but made a strong comeback to jump to a 4-1 lead in the second.
But to Wawrinka’s frustration, Ymer won the next five games on the trot to seal his victory.
Wawrinka has been awarded a wildcard to the main draw of next month’s ATP Masters 1000 event in Monte Carlo, where he lifted the trophy in 2014.
(Reporting by Sudipto Ganguly in Mumbai; editing by Pritha Sarkar)
