By Shrivathsa Sridhar
PARIS (Reuters) -Former French Open champion Stan Wawrinka made a first-round exit from Roland Garros on Monday but said he is still enjoying his tennis even if defeats are getting tougher to accept in the twilight of his stellar career.
The Swiss, who won the Roland Garros title in 2015, has had to endure a string of early losses on the elite ATP Tour as well as the Challenger Tour this year but said he knew exactly where he stood after falling 7-6(6) 6-3 6-2 to Briton Jacob Fearnley.
“I’m in front of you after losing the first round of the French Open. I’m of course close to the end. I’m not stopping right now, that’s for sure. I’m getting closer each week,” Wawrinka, who received a wild card to play, told reporters.
“In general I think I’m still playing some good tennis. I still move well. I still enjoy. All those losses are getting more difficult to swallow.
“It’s always about the balance with the sacrifice you’re doing on one side to be at that level. You need to have some wins in the other side. So far I’m not getting too many wins. Not enough.
“But yeah, we’ll see. Just finished the French Open, so we’ll see what’s going to come in the next few weeks.”
Wawrinka later told reporters in French that he may not return to Roland Garros next year.
“If I don’t win a few matches, if my results don’t get my ranking higher, then I will not come back whether as a wild card or anything else,” the three-times Grand Slam champion added.
“As for the next few weeks, well, the clay season is coming to an end. I did everything I could to try to keep a really good level of play. I’m satisfied with what I’m still able to do physically and technically.
“You need to have results, because I’m a competitor. Even if I enjoy and am passionate, I play to win.”
(Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in ParisEditing by Christian Radnedge)
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