Stanislas Wawrinka has booked his place in the second round of the French Open thanks to a four-set victory over Thiemo de Bakker this evening.
Just one break of serve is all that separated the two players during the opening set. It eventually went the way of Switzerland's number two Wawrinka, who broke at the last time of asking to take the set 7-5.
It was a similar story during the second set, although Wawrinka was able to break his Dutch opponent earlier than in the opener.
De Bakker refused to give up his service in the third set though, and as a result a tie-break was required to determine a winner. That went the way of De Bakker, who eased to a 7-1 success.
In the fourth set both men remained stubborn on serve until the 12th and final game. De Bakker slumped to 15-40 down and Wawrinka converted his second match point to book his place in round two at Roland Garros.
Wawrinka, seeded ninth this year, will next face either Vasek Pospisil or Horacio Zeballos in the second round in Paris.
Liam Apicella
