A familiar sight in the Chennai final–known as Stan Wawrinka–will be back on display for championship action on Sunday. Standing in Wawrinka’s way of a fourth title at this event is Borna Coric.
Death, taxes, and Stan Wawrinka the final of the Aircel Chennai Open. Those are pretty much the three certainties of life.
Wawrinka will contest his fifth Chennai title match in his eighth appearance at the tournament, and all five have come in his last seven trips. The fourth-ranked Swiss lost the first time to Marin Cilic (2010) but has since reeled off three titles (2011, 2014, 2015). He has had absolutely no trouble booking his spot in yet another Sunday finish. So far this week Wawrinka has cruised in straight sets past Andrey Rublev, Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, and Benoit Paire, and no set has been more competitive than 6-4.
Up next for the top seed is a third career meeting with Coric. They faced each other last year in Chennai, where Wawrinka rolled 6-1, 6-4. A more competitive contest at the Cincinnati Masters saw the veteran overcome the upstart 3-6, 7-6(3), 6-3.
Coric is though to his first-ever ATP final thanks to an impressively grueling run. The 19-year-old Croat needed three sets to get past Marcel Granollers, Roberto Baustista Agut, and Aljaz Bedene. Only in the second round against Austin Krajicek did Coric advance in straights. His semifinal showdown with Bedene lasted two hours and 56 minutes.
Don’t be surprised if this is reminiscent of the 2008 final, in which Rafael Nadal lost to Mikhail Youzhny. Nadal needed an unreal three hours and 54 minutes to outlast Carlos Moya 6-7(3), 7-6(8), 7-6(1) one day earlier. He promptly got destroyed 6-0, 6-1 by a salivating Youzhny.
Of course the circumstances are not exactly the same. Coric played for one fewer hour and the semis and he would be a heavy underdog against Wawrinka even with every physical resource in his tank. So this result will not be as lopsided or as surprising as the 2008 title match, but Wawrinka is going to coast to another victory in Chennai.
Pick: Wawrinka in 2
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