Stan Wawrinka’s attempts to kickstart his comeback season suffered another blow on Monday when the three-time major champion fell 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 to Emil Ruusuvuori in the rain-delayed opening round of the Canadian Open in Montreal lost
Wawrinka, 37, missed last year’s clay, grass and hard court seasons following left foot surgery and has endured a string of first-round exits since his return in March.
The former Swiss world number three played solid tennis but failed to defeat hard court specialist Ruusuvuori, who hit a forehand winner at match point to progress.
Next up for the Ruusuvuori is a second-round clash with Hubert Hurkacz, whom the Finn defeated for the biggest win of his career in Washington last week.
Karen Khachanov went on the winning side in a sloppy three-set match against Francisco Cerundolo in which the players combined made 110 unforced errors compared to just 45 winners.
The Russian has performed well at the tournament in the past, reaching the semifinals in 2018 and 2019.
In the other first round, 21-year-old American Jenson Brooksby made quick work of a 6-2, 6-3 win over Alexander Bublik and Slovakia’s Alex Molcan beat Mackenzie McDonald 7-6 (1) 6-4.
Heavy rain delayed the start of the Masters 1000 tournament by hours and forced Andy Murray’s much-anticipated first-round match against Taylor Fritz to be postponed until Tuesday.