Stan Wawrinka withdraws from Gstaad - "I'm still not where I need to be"

Stan Wawrinka is out of the Swiss Open in Gstaad as the Swiss player is not happy with his current tennis opting to practice more before returning.

The decision might come as a surprise to fans but it's actually a very smart one by Wawrinka due to his slip in the rankings. He's currently ranked far outside of the top 100 and any bigger event warrants qualifying for him which is not something you want to do if you're 37-year old.

He played a couple of events with his protected ranking but he's now opting not to burn one of those entries in Gstaad. The decision comes after he lost in the opening round of Bastad as he now understands that he's far away from an ideal condition in order to play tennis the way he thinks he can still play it.

He announced the decision on social media writing:

"Even though I'm happy with the progress, I know that I'm still not where I want to be and where I need to be in order to compete and win consecutive matches at the highest level."

Wawrinka further added that he will return when he feels ready to compete properly adding that he will work hard for the rest of the season. The note also contained his commitment to play during the US swing but it's unclear whether he'll just play the US Open or a couple of more events. He's in the Montreal and Cincinnati Entry Lists.