Stan Wawrinka hopes to end title drought with Qatar Open title

Swiss tennis player Stan Wawrinka is pinning his hopes on Qatar Open to ends his title drought. However, inaugural ATP Cup in Australia will take limelight away from  $1.4 million prize tournament.

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Wawrinka looking to end drought

While speaking to a Qatar daily, tournament director Karim Alami said, "We have been talking with ATP Tour for last year and a half to find a solution. We are trying to find ar date - maybe sometime in February before event in Dubai so it could be part of Middle East swing."

In an indication of how bly-holed Qatar tournament has been by ATP Cup, Russia's Andrey Rublev, world 23, takes second seeding.

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Wawrinka has t won a title since pocketing 16th of his career on Geneva clay in 2017. His last outdoor hard court trophy was in 2016 when he captured his third and most recent Grand Slam at US Open.

Since n, popular Swiss has been pushed to brink of retirement by two bouts of surgery on his left knee. A lengthy absence from tour meant his world ranking, which once peaked at three in 2014, sank to 263 four years later.

Wawrinka, runner-up to Andy Murray in Doha in 2008 and a quarter-finalist 12 months ago, will face French veteran Jeremy Chardy or a qualifier in his opening match in Qatari capital. Rublev, beaten by France's Gael Monfils in 2019 final, will face eir Tunisian wild card Malek Jaziri or Mikhail Kukushkin of Kazakhstan.

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France's Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, 2012 champion, faces winner of tie between Miomir Kecmavic of Serbia and Australia's Jordan Thompson.

Cana's Milos Raonic seeded fourth, begins against eir Tennys Sandgren of United States or a qualifier.

(With inputs from PTI)

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