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Wawrinka shifts attention to training following Monte Carlo defeat, targets French Open

“I'm still far away from where I want to be, but I'm happy with the way I was playing,” said the former world No. 3, who will apply for a wild card to play in Paris.

ByKamakshi Tandon

Published Apr 12, 2022

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WATCH: 2022 Rolex Monte Carlo Masters match highlights as Alexander Bublik defeats Stan Wawrinka in the first round.

Stan Wawrinka is still looking for the first win of his comeback, but his target is still to play the French Open in a few weeks.

The three-time Grand Slam champion fell to Alexander Bublik in the opening round of Monte Carlo, and also exited in the first round of the Marbella challenger two weeks ago as he started his comeback.

But 37-year-old Wawrinka, who was off the tour for almost a year following two surgeries on his foot, says he's making progress.

"It was a way better match. I think the body's getting much better. I'm still far away from where I want to be," he told press at Monte Carlo. "But I'm happy with the way I was playing today. I think it was much better than what I was expecting."

His goal of experiencing the thrills of competition once again has already been achieved.

"I did this rehabilitation [for] more than a year just to be able to step onto courts like this one, to be in a tournament like this with the crowd, the atmosphere, the emotions, and the thrill that you can feel with the stress, also," he said. "It was very enjoyable today."

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Next, he wants to be more competitive, saying, "Now we are practicing with the top guys to get my level a bit better."

As part of that, he will concentrate on practice rather than tournament play for the next week or two, and has not yet decided the rest of his schedule.

"It would have been nice to play the second round here, but that does not affect what I have to do the next few weeks," he said.

But Wawrinka confirmed that he wants to play the French Open, having announced his comeback specifically with the aim of playing at Paris.

"I'm going to apply for a wild card," he said, as his ranking has dropped to No. 236. "But I'm almost sure I'm going to use my [protected] ranking."

Wawrinka, who peaked at world No. 3, won the French Open title in 2015.