Chennai: World No 4 Stan Wawrinka's love affair with Chennai continues. The Swiss sledgehammer, winner of the 2014 and 2015 titles, is gunning for a hat-trick at this year's ATP Aircel Chennai Open. He made short work of Andrei Rublev of Russia, winning in a canter 6-3, 6-2 at the Nungambakkam Tennis Stadium yesterday.


Switzerland's Stanislas Wawrinka serves to Russia's Andrey Rublev at the Chennai Open yesterday. Pic/PTI

The 30-year-old from Lausanne now runs into Guillermo Garcia Lopez of Spain in the quarter-finals. Wawrinka has the best single hander backhand in the game. American tennis's superstar of yesteryears, John McEnroe, described Wawrinka's backhand as "the most brutal stroke in men's tennis."