Beautiful moment tennis star rescues young fan in distress
Per fortuna c'è Stan Wawrinka! 😍
Si accorge che stanno schiacciando un bambino e lo tira fuori dai guai... 👏👏#RG19 | #EurosportTENNIS pic.twitter.com/ph4IrAOwv7— Eurosport IT (@Eurosport_IT) May 29, 2019
Swiss star Stan Wawrinka has melted hearts at the French Open after a lovely act for a young boy reduced to tears in the stands.
The small boy was part of a large crowd contingent gathered at the front of the stands, clamouring for an autograph or souvenir.
However, it was abundantly clear the child was distressed after being caught up in a wild huddle of tennis supporters.
Seeing how uncomfortable and upset the young lad was, Wawrinka decided to spring to action, snatching him up and over the stands.
The Swiss star could be seen trying to console the child, who was breathing heavily and had tears streaming down his face.
After a quick pep talk and some reassuring words, Wawrinka was then handed a towel that he presented the boy as he walked him out of harm's way.
Still carrying a tennis ball in one hand and a pen in the other, the boy's anguish quickly turned to excitement as he gestured to Wawrinka for an autograph.
"People were pushing too much, and he started to cry because he had some pain," world number 28 Wawrinka told reporters.
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"I took him out of that mess a little bit, and he was in pain and sad. So for sure, I tried to make him feel better, gave him a towel, and tried to find his dad."
Wawrinka's heartwarming moment came after he reached the French Open third round with a 6-1 6-4 6-0 victory over Chile's Cristian Garin.
Love the key to Wawrinka’s resurgence
The Swiss credits his love of tennis for helping him claw his way back from a painful knee injury and set up a clash with Bulgaria's Grigor Dimitrov.
The 2015 Roland Garros champion fell out of the top 200 in the world after undergoing surgery in late 2017, but he has been climbing up the rankings since last year.
"I had a lot of pain full time. After the surgery it took me a little while to get back fit and ready to play like today," he said.
"It took more than a year, and it was not an easy way to be back. But again, at the end of the day, I knew why I was doing it, because I love tennis, I love the game, but especially I love to play.
"In a court like today with a lot of people in a Grand Slam, that was always my dream to play in the French Open when I was a kid."
It is those childhood dreams that have kept Wawrinka on track through some difficult times.
He reached the quarter-finals of the Madrid Open earlier this month, only losing to 11-times French Open champion Rafa Nadal, but that promising result was followed by early exits in Rome and Geneva.
"When you are in pain, not sure how well you're gonna be back or which level you can be back, you focus on that, focus on what you wanted when you were a child," he said.
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