Stan Wawrinka postpones start to his clay court season, out of Millennium Estoril Open

Stan Wawrinka will not start his clay court season at the Millennium Estoril Open which is due to take place between April 1-9 and fully kicks off the clay court season post Miami.

Wawrinka said in his statement released by the Estoril Open social media account that he doesn't believe he is ready to compete at the level required and needs more time to prepare.

"It is with a heavy heart that I will unfortunately not be able to play in this year's Estoril Open," he said.

"I would like to thank the organization and Joao Zilhao, 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.