When the young Spaniard Martin Landaluce was born in January 2006, Stan Wawrinka was competing at the ATP 250 event in Doha, making final preparations ahead of the Australian Open.
Nineteen and a half years later, Stan and Martin met in the quarter-final of the Saint-Tropez Challenger. The 40-year-old stoppled the clock and ousted the 19-year-old 6-4, 6-1 in 66 minutes for his second Challenger semi-final inas many weeks.
The 5th seed fired nine aces against the top seed and dropped only nine points in nine service games! Stan kept his rival away from break points and challenged him to follow that pace.
Landalucecould not follow those numbers. The young Spaniard lost 42% of the points in his games and gave serve away three times from four chances presented to the three-time Major winner.
Both players served well in the opening nine games of the encounter, wrapping them up in 29 minutes. The veteran felt the ball nicely and held at 15 in game nine for a 5-4 advantage.
ADVERTISEMENT
Martin served to stay in the set in game ten and offered his rival a set point after a forehand error. The Spaniard saved it but missed a backhand on the second set point, sending Wawrinka 6-4 in front after 35 minutes.
The Swiss provided four fine holds in the second set and kept the pressure on the other side. Landaluce missed a game point in the second game and netted a backhand to experience a break and find himself in a tough position.
The 40-year-old cemented the lead with a forehand drive-volley winner in the third game, marching toward the top. A teenager experienced another setback in the fourth game, spraying a double fault and falling 4-0 behind.
Wawrinka extended the gap with a service winner in game five and served for the win at 5-1. The Swiss sealed the deal with an ace on the second match point, earning a notable victory and remaining on the title course.
