Wawrinka will play Federer, after 5 hours against Tsitsipas, in the 2019 Roland Garros

Stan Wawrinka moves on from one blockbuster to another. After an edge of the seat thriller against Stefanos Tsitsipas on Sunday, Stan will face the Maestro – Roger Federer – in the quarterfinal of the 2019 Roland Garros.

The Wawrinka versus Tsitsipas was an absolute barn burner.

The match between the two single handed players exceeded the hype and some more. It was an all out battle between two highly talented players wielding exceptionally strong ground-shots, including single handed backhands, and powerful serves. In a five set played over five hours the loser, Tsitsipas, actually won one more point than the winner – Wawrinka. Stefanos won 195 points in the match, while Stan won 194 only. Tsitsipas struck 64 winners compared to 65 by Stan, Stefanos also won 50 of 74 sojourns to the net as compared to 23 of 31 by Stan. Tsitsipas appeared to hit the ball as hard as Stan on the ground-shots and had only 48 unforced compared to 55 by Wawrinka. And, yet Stefanos lost! Why and how?

Stefanos converted only five of the twenty-seven break-point opportunities he created.

Stefanos, we believe, lost because of his miserable break point conversion in the match. He converted only 5 of 27 break-point opportunities, as compared to 5 of 14 by Wawrinka. Tsitsipas bemoaned that particular stat in the post-match interview. “I was so close, so close,” said Stefanos. “I give him room to do whatever he likes, all those break points. ‘So many break points. ‘So many. ‘Didn’t play. ‘I was expecting someone else to play it for me. ‘I didn’t play.”

Tsitsipas was emotionally drained and even cried after the match.

The close and hard fought match was dominated by Tsitsipas for the most part. Tsitsipas could have won the match, if not for the abysmal break-point conversion. Stan won the blockbuster battle  7-6(6) 5-7 6-4 3-6 8-6 and moved on to the quarterfinals. Tsitsipas, on the other hand, could not control the emotions after the loss. “I feel exhausted,” said Tsitsipas. “I don’t know. ‘Never experienced something like this in my life. ‘I feel very disappointed at the end. ‘Long time since I cried after a match, so emotionally wasn’t easy to handle. ‘I will try to learn from it as much as I can.”

Wawrinka was gracious enough to acknowledge that Tsitsipas deserved to win as much as him.

Stefanos won a point more than Wawrinka in the match and yet lost. Wawrinka acknowledged that the match was very close and either could have won.  “It was amazing battle today,” said Wawrinka. “Today we saw only one centimeter can change the winner. ‘I think he would have deserve as much as me to win the match today. ‘It’s for sure a tough loss for him, but it was something that was big battle. ‘I’m happy with everything that I have done today, the way I was fighting, the way I was staying with him, even if I was tired, the way I start to play a little bit more aggressive.”

What’s next for Stefanos Tsitsipas?

This loss, we believe, will make Tsitsipas even stronger over the months and years to come. We believe Tsitsipas will be dangerous and armed to reach a slam final in 2020. 138mph continues to believe in Stefanos Tsitsipas’ strong prospects to win multiple slams. He, however, needs to work on his serve, and not allow the elbow to drop below the shoulder height, too much, while taking and dropping his racket behind the back.

Wawrinka will play Federer in the quarterfinals of the 2019 Roland Garros.

Wawrinka’s prize, after the five hours and five sets long battle against Stefanos, is a match against none other than, his Swiss compatriot, Roger Federer.  Wawrinka has won only 3 of the 25 encounters with Roger, but Stan looks good and, if allowed the rhythm, can cause an upset here. Federer, however, hasn’t dropped a set yet and is also known for not allowing the rhythm to opponents.

Conclusion: Advantage Federer, even if only, by the smallest of margins.