Delighting home fans, Stan Wawrinka produced a stunning comeback win against Brandon Nakashima on Thursday at the Swiss Indoors Basel, where the home favourite held firm to seal a thrilling 6-4, 5-7, 6-4 second-round win.
Wawrinka seemed set for a straightforward victory in his first tour-level meeting with Nakashima when he served for the match at 5-4 in the second set.
American Nakashima had other ideas, raising his level with some high-octane baseline smashing to force a decider, but Wawrinka kept his cool in the third set to convert the only break point and clinched a two-hour, 12-minute victory.
"He battled, of course. He was playing well, it was a really intense match. He's a great player and it was tough, the first time playing against each other... I had the chance to close the match at 6-4, 5-4, I couldn't really find my first serve and he played really well," ATP.com quoted Wawrinka as saying after the match.
"He was aggressive. So it was not easy to come back in the third, but really I am happy with the way I fought again, the way I came back," he added.
The former World No. 3 was pleased to clinch another victory in front of his home crowd and reach the quarter-finals in Basel for the sixth time in 15 appearances.
"I am playing much better than in the past few months and at home, the feeling is always special. It has been many years that I have been [coming back] to Basel. It was not always easy to play here, I've not always played my best tennis and not always found it easy to deliver for the fans," said Wawrinka.
"Tonight and two nights ago, I think I (played) great and I had amazing support, so it's really great to be here," he added.
Wawrinka will face Roberto Bautista Agut in the quarter-final. Bautista Agut prevailed 6-3, 6-2 against former World No. 1 Andy Murray.
( With inputs from ANI )
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