After coasting to his third successive Chennai Open title, Stan Wawrinka said it was important for him to stay focused throughout against a ‘tough’ opponent.
“It was important to focus on every point in the match. Borna [Coric] is a tough opponent. He’s always fighting and trying to find a way to stay in the game. I stayed tough throughout and am happy with the way I played today.”
He added that he was buoyed by the crowd support. “The crowd was amazing. I’ve always had good support here.”
The Swiss beat World no.1 Novak Djokovic to clinch his first French Open title last year. On what it takes to beat the Serbian, Wawrinka said, “It’s good that I managed to beat him once last year. You need to play your best possible game to stand a chance against him.”
The two-time Grand Slam winner said he was pleased with the way he’s been serving now. “I’m doing the same things that I’ve been doing in the last few years: trying to be more aggressive, and move and serve better. I think I served really well this week.
“My serving has got better than last year. Even if you are the top seed, you know how difficult it can be. So I try and take it match by match. I got better with every match. Happy to have won the trophy again. It’s a great feeling,” he added.
The 30-year old was warned by the chair umpire in the second set. He dismissed it saying, “it was nothing big and special.”
The World No. 4 said that he would love to come back to defend his title. “I think it’s a great place to play tennis. I like the people here. They’ve always been nice to me since the time I first played here. Hopefully, I’ll be back next year.”
Coric conceded that his opponent was too hot to handle on Sunday. “His forehand was unbelievable. He basically was just too good today.”
The World No. 44 said he had a strong belief, and was backed by good preparation, coming into the tournament. “I believed I could end up getting better. I had a very good preparation for five weeks in the lead-up. I’ve had an unbelievable week. I just need to keep pushing for the rest of the year.”
