Tennis

Wawrinka wins 1st ATP title in Croatia

(AP)
Updated: 2006-07-31 08:47

UMAG, Croatia - Stanislas Wawrinka won his first ATP title when favored Novak Djokovic retired with breathing problems during the first set of the Croatian Open final on Sunday.

Unseeded Wawrinka of Switzerland was trailing 1-3 in the tiebreaker when Djokovic, the fourth seed from Serbia, quit.

Djokovic paused several times during the 73-minute first set, showing respiratory troubles. A physician held him around the chest to help him breathe normally before the tiebreaker.

At 3-1, he suddenly lay down on the clay court, and his father Srdjan, and a doctor ran on to the court and checked his pulse. They took the 19-year-old by his arms and sat him in his courtside chair.

With his mother, Dijana, crying in the stands, Djokovic decided to retire.

Minutes later, he stood up and bowed his head to the spectators, who cheered him with a long applause.

Djokovic was trying to win his second title in two weeks. He won his first career title last week in Amersfoort, Netherlands, and was on a nine-match winning streak — losing only one set — heading into Sunday's final.

The 21-year-old Wawrinka was playing in only his second final. He and Djokovic broke each other twice in the first set.