ATP Tour

Wawrinka survives final-set tie-break in Geneva, joins Connors in record books

Two-time champion and home favourite Stan Wawrinka added another memorable chapter to his farewell ATP Tour season Monday at the Gonet Geneva Open.

The 41-year-old Swiss star produced a gritty performance to overcome lucky loser Raul Brancaccio 6-2, 4-6, 7-6(5) and become the oldest player to record an ATP Tour win on clay since Jimmy Connors in 1994.

Wawrinka, who lifted back-to-back Geneva titles in 2016 and 2017, booked a second-round meeting with Alex Michelsen. The American advanced with a 7-5, 6-3 win over Sebastian Baez earlier in the day.

"It's amazing to be back here in Geneva," said Wawrinka, who is competing at the Swiss event for the first time since 2019. "I'm not getting younger, so these matches are not easy for me, but the crowd helped me so much. [I want] to feel the emotion one last time. I'm happy that I have a chance to play one more time here."

Stefanos Tsitsipas was made to work hard in a tense finish to his Geneva debut, but the Greek No. 1 delivered when it mattered most to launch his campaign at the ATP 250 event.

After squandering a 6/2 lead in a dramatic second-set tie-break against Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard, Tsitsipas regrouped and finally converted his sixth match point to seal a 6-4, 7-6(8) victory. The Greek saved two set points in the second set before securing his 15th tour-level win of the season, according to the Infosys ATP Win/Loss Index.

“It’s a big relief for me to be fighting my way through a match like that,” Tsitsipas said in his on-court interview. “It was very difficult, mentally, to withstand it in the end. I just had to stay composed and show my grit. I would definitely like to thank the crowd for being by my side throughout this effort.”

Competing as a wild card in Geneva this week, Tsitsipas will next face fourth seed and reigning Next Gen ATP Finals champion Learner Tien, which will be their first Lexus ATP Head2Head meeting. The former Roland Garros finalist will be hoping to build momentum ahead of the Paris major, where he reached the championship match in 2021.

Arthur Rinderknech also advanced on Monday in Geneva. The Frenchman, who withdrew ahead of his opening match in Rome two weeks ago, returned in emphatic fashion with a 6-4, 6-1 victory over Thiago Agustin Tirante in just 76 minutes.

Qualifier Francisco Comesana battled through, rallying past Valentin Royer 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 to earn his first tour-level victory since February. The Argentine is competing as the No. 114 player in the PIF ATP Rankings after falling outside the Top 100 last month for the first time since 2024.