"It's going to be a tough one, for sure" - Wawrinka to face Zverev in Paris quarterfinal after surviving Rublev storm

Stan Wawrinka proved he still has some gas left in the tank as he rallied from a devastating first set loss to overcome in-form Andrey Rublev at the Paris Masters.

After acquiring an ATP-leading 40th win of the season in the previous round, Rublev looked set to continue his incredible run. The Russian had just won his fifth title of the season last week in Vienna, and quickly grabbed the first set 6-1 against Wawrinka. However, the Swiss star was able to fight back and escaped with a 1-6 6-4 6-3 victory.

“I think of course at the beginning he was playing faster than me, was playing better than me,” Wawrinka said after the match. “It was tough for me to really find any solution when he's playing that well. I was still believing that I could change something in my game and play a little bit better.”  

The former World No.3 was able to end Rublev's impressive 11-match winning streak, employing a mixture of accurate serves and deadly, precise groundstrokes.

“I didn't start great the match, and he took the confidence from me also,” said Wawrinka. “I think for me it was important to really focus on my serve. I start to serve better, to mix more, to get more free points, to start to push him a little bit more, put him on defense a little bit. That's when I knew I will have some occasion to break him. I'm really happy with the victory.”

Awaiting Wawrinka in the quarterfinals is Alexander Zverev, as the fourth seed staved off an excellent effort from French veteran Adrian Mannarino to advance 7-6(11) 6-7(7) 6-4 after three hours.

“It's going to be a tough one, for sure,” admitted Wawrinka. “I lost to him in the Australian Open. Lost a few times to him already in the past. He's a tough player for me to play, so it's going to be interesting. I watched him a little bit tonight. He played also a long match. Hopefully I can deliver a great match tomorrow night.”