Wawrinka conquers his Wimbledon demons
By Michael Hann
LONDON (Reuters) - Stanislas Wawrinka conquered his first-round Wimbledon demons on Tuesday as he bludgeoned his way around the freshly cut sward and into the second round for the first time in three years.
The Australian Open champion has struggled at the All England Club, losing his opening match five times in nine visits, but the Swiss never looked in danger of another early exit as he won 6-3 6-4 6-3 against Portugal's Joao Sousa.
Fiery fifth seed Wawrinka delighted the sun-baked Court Two crowd with an assured performance, displaying a full range of sizzling groundstrokes to leave Sousa without a glimpse of a break point.
Grass is a surface that will cause problems unless you are completely confident and relaxed with it, said Wawrinka, who will play Taiwan's Yen-Hsun Lu in the second round.
"That's why I had problems in the past. In the first round you can be a little bit tight, a little bit nervous. On that surface, it's really tough to get through. You have to be ready from the first match."
Wawrinka, who was flung out of the French Open in the first round but reached the semi-finals of the Queen's Club warm-up tournament this month, does not feel any added weight of expectation to perform in southwest London.
"The pressure is always there," he said. “My loss in Paris didn't change that ... I know that I can do some damage here, but I need to be focused for the next one."
Having won the Australian Open in the first grand slam of the year, Wawrinka has struggled to match his early season form but the world No.3 believes it is only a matter of time before he gets his hands on a second major title.
"The ranking doesn't lie. If I'm there, it's because I deserve to be there ... I still think that I can have a big result in a big tournament," he said.
(editing by David Goodman)
