Rome: Swiss star Stan Wawrinka struggled on his return after almost three months on the sidelines, falling to a first round defeat in the clay-court Italian Open yesterday.
The three-time Grand Slam champion lost 6-4, 6-4 to 55th-ranked American Steve Johnson.
Wawrinka, 33, sat out the second half of 2017 after a knee operation following a first-round exit at Wimbledon in June.
He spent eight weeks on crutches following surgery to repair the damage. He returned this year but has struggled and was forced to withdraw during a second round match in Marseille in February against world number 193 Ilya Ivashka of Belarus.
Three Americans advanced on the first day on the red clay in Rome with 13th seed Jack Sock beating Spaniard David Ferrer 6-3, 6-4, and Ryan Harrison ousting Japan’s Yuichi Sugita 7-6 (7/5), 6-3. But 12th-seeded American Sam Querrey fell 6-2, 7-6 (9/7) to Germany’s Peter Gojowczyk.