Stan Wawrinka delays start of his clay season, withdraws from Estoril

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• ATP Tennis

Stan Wawrinka has delayed the start of his clay season as he has withdrawn from the Estoril Open. Wawrinka, 37, was scheduled to make his debut on the clay courts of Estoril this year. Unfortunately for the Estoril organizers, three-time Grand Slam champion Wawrinka announced he wouldn't be participating at the tournament that is scheduled to take place between April 03-09.

"It is with a heavy heart that I will unfortunately, not be able to play in this year's Estoril Open. I would like to thank the organization and João Zilhão, the tournament director for giving me this opportunity.

Sadly, I need more time to prepare myself for the clay season and am not ready to currently compete at this level, sorry again to all my fans in Portugal that you will not be able to see me play. However, I'm looking forward to hopefully come back next year," Wawrinka said in a statement.

Stan Wawrinka postpones the start of his clay season. Misses the @EstorilOpen 😭 pic.twitter.com/ghviXYXRIO — José Morgado (@josemorgado) March 21, 2023

Will Wawrinka start his clay season at the Monte Carlo Masters?

Wawrinka, who is now ranked at No 87 in the world, didn't make the main draw cut for the Monte Carlo Masters.

Last year, former world No 3 Wawrinka was given a main draw wildcard into Monte Carlo. Wawrinka, the 2014 Monte Carlo champion, again needs a main draw wildcard and he will likely receive one. Meanwhile, Wawrinka last competed at the Indian Wells Masters, which he entered using a protected ranking.

In Indian Wells, Wawrinka turned back the clock a little bit and clinched a couple of notable wins before losing to Jannik Sinner in the round-of-16. In the Indian Wells third round, Wawrinka clinched his biggest win of the season after beating eighth-ranked Holger Rune.

The Monte Carlo Masters is starting on April 9th and it remains to be seen if that's the tournament where Wawrinka will be kicking off his clay season.