Wawrinka beats Kukushkin to advance in Murray River Open

FILE PHOTO: Tennis - ATP Masters 1000 - Paris Masters - AccorHotels Arena, Paris, France - November 6, 2020 Switzerland's Stan Wawrinka in action during his quarter final match against Germany's Alexander Zverev REUTERS/Gonzalo Fuentes

(Reuters) - Former Australian Open champion Stan Wawrinka warmed up for the season's first Grand Slam with a 4-6 6-3 6-1 victory over Kazakh Mikhail Kukushkin on Wednesday to reach the last 16 of the Murray River Open warm-up tournament in Melbourne.

Playing in his first competitive match since a defeat by Alexander Zverev in the Paris Masters quarter-finals last year, three-times major champion Wawrinka dropped a tight first set before switching gears in the next two to seal the victory.