Third seed Stan Wawrinka takes on 28th seed Philipp Kohlschreiber in the third round of BNP Paribas Open 2017 at Indian Wells on Monday.
The world number three decimated unseeded Italian player Paolo Lorenzi 6-3, 6-4 on Saturday to start his campaign on a high. On the other Kohlschreiber notched up his 400th career win after his second-round opponent Alexandr Dolgopolov retired hurt in the second set of the game. Notably, the 33-year-old German had lost the first set and thus was lucky enough to see his opponent pull out with an injury.
Wawrinka would have been a relieved man when he went past the initial hurdle on Saturday as he was dumped out of Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships following a first-round loss to Damir Dzumhur. The third seed, who had reached the semi-final of Australian Open earlier this year, looked composed and focussed in his win over Lorenzi.
Starting the tournament as the reigning US Open champion, the Swiss star would want to win his first title at the Indian Wells. The 31-year-old though will be focussed on today's match against Kohlschreiber, whom he has beaten four times in the past, including the two occasions (Monte Carlo Masters and Dubai quarter-final) last year.
It has been a tough start for the experienced German campaigner in the ongoing season as he has been facing early exits so far. KOhlschreiber has not gone past the quarter-final stages this season and was ousted from the Australian Open in the third round.
It will be another uphill task for the German later today and even his best might not be enough to stop Wawrinka, who is looking to get his season back on track with a solid show in California.
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