Wawrinka takes in the sights in Sofia for the first time

Stan Wawrinka took a quick tour of Sofia—a city that's not a familiar stop on his usual schedule—to visit Saint Alexander Nevsky Cathedral. It's the world No. 15's first time playing in the Bulgarian capital.

Wawrinka needed more match play after falling early at the Australian Open (in the second round to Tennys Sandgren). The Swiss is on the comeback trail from a knee injury that ended his 2017 campaign early.

The last time Wawrinka entered an ATP 250 (last May), he won it.

"I’m in a different place when I played last year in Geneva," Wawrinka said in a press conference on Facebook Live. "When I was playing a lot of tournaments, lot of matches. Now it's the beginning after my big surgery so I don’t try to look too far ahead. For me its important to be back on the court, to play matches."

Defending champion and hometown hero Grigor Dimitrov is not in the draw this year, but Wawrinka is joined by the likes of Adrian Mannarino, Gilles Muller and Viktor Troicki.

"I have never been in Bulgaria. [It’s] my first time," Wawrinka said. "That’s why I am really excited. I’ve heard really good things... especially [now that] there is a tournament. We talked last year a little bit with [Dimitrov] about this. So I am excited to see your country."

Wawrinka opens his Sofia campaign against Martin Klizan.