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Match details
Fixture: Stan Wawrinka vs Daniel Evans
Date: 12 October 2020
Tournament: St. Petersburg Open 2020
Round: First round (Round of 32)
Venue: St. Petersburg, Russia
Category: ATP 500
Surface: Indoor Hardcourt
Prize money: $1,243,790
Match timing: Not before 6.30 pm Moscow Standard Time, 9 pm IST
Live telecast: USA - ESPN / Tennis Channel | India - Sony Six
Stan Wawrinka vs Dan Evans preview
5th seed Stan Wawrinka will play on hardcourts for the first time since the resumption of the tour at the 2020 St. Petersburg Open. In the first round, the three-time Grand Slam champion will take on Great Britain’s Dan Evans.
Wawrinka had a below-par claycourt swing, losing in the opening round at the Rome Masters. At the French Open, he managed to defeat Andy Murray and Dominik Koepfer, but suffered a shock defeat to Hugo Gaston in the third round.
Before tennis came to a standstill due to the pandemic, Stan Wawrinka played at the hardcourt event in Acapulco as well as the Australian Open. The Swiss did quite well at Melbourne, where he made the quarterfinals after defeating Daniil Medvedev.
Wawrinka will be hoping to get that form back ahead of the European indoor hardcourt swing.
His opponent, Dan Evans, comes into this match on the back of some torrid form. The Brit lost in the opening round at Hamburg, Rome and Roland Garros, and he didn’t fare too well in the American hardcourt swing either. Evans failed to go past the second round at either the Cincinnati Masters or the US Open.
The 30-year-old will be hoping that his play sees some improvement on indoor hardcourts, but his task will be far from easy against Stan Wawrinka. The Swiss did play some exceptional tennis in Paris, even though he failed to physically sustain his quality over five sets.
Both players will be fancying their chances in a best-of-three clash, and that could give the fans an entertaining match to watch.
Stan Wawrinka vs Dan Evans head-to-head
Stan Wawrinka leads Daniel Evans by 3-0 in the head-to-head. They have played twice before on hardcourt (US Open ’16 and Indian Wells ’19), with the Swiss winning both of those encounters.
Wawrinka famously saved a match point against Evans at the 2016 US Open, before going on to lift the trophy a week later.
Stan Wawrinka vs Dan Evans prediction
This is an interesting match-up as it pits the attacking prowess of Stan Wawrinka against the counter-punching game of Dan Evans. We can expect a fair few baseline rallies in the contest given the propensity of both players to hit with power and consistency from the back of the court.
The indoor hardcourt surface at St. Petersburg presents Wawrinka with an advantage due to its fast nature. The 35-year-old will look to make good use of his big serve and even bigger groundstrokes to hit through the Brit.
Dan Evans can pose a problem or two to Stan Wawrinka, but the Swiss should be able to overpower him eventually.
Prediction: Stan Wawrinka to win in three sets.
