A farewell tour?
That’s not a phrase that sits well with Stan Wawrinka as he begins his 25th and final season on the ATP Tour.
Send your well wishes and accolades and they will be received politely and with appreciation. But Switzerland’s other tennis treasure is determined to crown – rather than tarnish – one of the finest careers of the past 20 years by doing in 2026 what he does best: fighting with all his might to win as many matches as possible.
For evidence, look no further than Wawrinka’s season opener at the United Cup in Perth: Toiling for three hours and 18 minutes in baking heat, the 40-year-old rallied from a set down to upset Top 30 Frenchman Arthur Rinderknech in a third-set tie-break. It was a spirited victory – the 583rd of his career – that backed up his comments just one day earlier to ATPTour.com.
“I’m good with my decision to announce this is my last year, but I’m not doing a year just to say goodbye,” Wawrinka said. “I’m a competitor. I want to push my limit, I want to still fight against good players. I want to still win matches. I want to try to be back at the Top 100 at 40 years old.
“Throughout my career I do feel like I maximised everything I could; that always has been my goal and it’s still on for the last year. It was always to push my own limits and I achieved way more than I could dream when I was young.”
Despite more than two decades on Tour, the three-time Grand Slam champion remains a fierce competitor at his core. Why else would he grind through 29 ATP Challenger matches in 2025 as his PIF ATP Ranking [now 157] languished well outside the Top 100 and kept him off the main tour for extended periods?
“He likes the hard work and the tough lifestyle, pushing his body to the physical and mental limits,” said longtime coach Magnus Norman this week in Perth. “And he likes to perform in front of people. At the Napoli Challenger last year the crowd was really into the matches. For him it doesn’t matter if it’s a Challenger or a Grand Slam.”
Wawrinka, a winner of 16 titles, concurs: “I’m lucky enough to have had the chance to win Slams and play on the biggest stages, but just the emotion I get from playing a match, the feeling from the competition and playing in front of people is the same even when you play on the small courts. When you’re passionate about what you’re doing, the stadium doesn’t matter.”
ATP Challengers are a far cry from the centre courts of Roland Garros and the Australian and US Opens where Wawrinka inked his legacy. With Norman by his side, Wawrinka won majors for three consecutive years between 2014-2016: at Melbourne Park in 2014, Roland Garros in 2015 and in the cavernous Arthur Ashe Stadium in 2016.
Norman shared a favourite memory of Wawrinka’s final Grand Slam triumph, a four-set win over Novak Djokovic in the 2016 US Open final. As the referee called the finalists to assemble for their escort to the court, the Swede delivered an emotional speech.
“He had been playing very good tennis and I thought he would have a good match, but against Novak you’re not sure if it will be enough,” Norman said. “I told him that no matter what happens, that I’m so proud of what he had done.”
The words moved Wawrinka to tears, which then brought Norman to tears.
“The referee is calling the match and we’re both in the lockerroom crying. But it was what we needed because there had been a lot of tension. It was a little bit of a release for both of us,” Norman added.
<img alt=”2016 US Open final” style=”width:100%;” src=”/-/media/images/news/2026/01/04/09/03/wawrina-djokovic-us-open-2016.jpg” />
Stan Wawrinka and Novak Djokovic embrace after the 2016 US Open final. Photo: Getty Images.
For his part, Wawrinka said that his earlier Grand Slam final victory over Djokovic at Roland Garros in 2015 remains his favourite.
“They all are really special in different ways,” he said. “Australia was where I won my first Slam [against Rafael Nadal] the year after I lost the tough match to Novak in five sets. For me that was a turning point in my career.
“But if I had to pick one, I will take the French Open. I grew up in the French part of Switzerland and when I was young, I was watching the tournament every summer. It was easy to watch French Open all day long and I had friends and family coming because it’s really close to home.
“I grew up playing on clay, so for many reasons, I will pick this one.”
Victory over Djokovic on Court Philippe-Chatrier included one of the most iconic moments in modern Grand Slam finals: an around-the-net topspin backhand winner from deep and wide behind the baseline that left fans gobsmacked.
“It’s an amazing memory of course; at that moment I was really feeling good. That was one set all and it was a break for me in the third. I was really feeling and playing the way I wanted to.
“I saw the ball. I saw the gap. I went for it.
“In that moment you just feel so good because it’s already an amazing achievement to be in the French Open final and then to hit that shot and play so well against Novak Djokovic is something I’ll always remember.”
<img alt=”Stan Wawrinka in action at Roland Garros in 2015.” style=”width:100%;” src=”/-/media/images/news/2026/01/04/05/43/wawrinka-feature-1e.jpg” />
Wawrinka in action at the 2015 Roland Garros. Photo: Getty Images.
Wawrinka has a combined 12-63 record against the Big Three – Nadal (3-19), Federer (3-23), Djokovic (6-21) – but many of the victories came when they counted most. In Grand Slam finals he was 3-1.
“In his prime, if Stan had a good day no-one was safe,” Norman said. “He could hit winners from both sides from two to three metres behind the baseline. He was serving and moving well, was physically strong.
“He was really good in the big moments. Grand Slam champions have something that other players don’t have. I was in a Grand Slam final and the moment got to me. He could handle those situations. I think you’re born with it.”
Wawrinka beat Nadal in the 2014 Australian Open, his first major title
He beat Djokovic in the 2015 Roland Garros final and the 2016 US Open final. In 2014 he pipped the Serbian 9-7 in the fifth set of the Australian Open quarter-finals en route to the title win over Nadal, one year after Djokovic edged him 12-10 in the fifth in the Australian Open fourth round.
<img alt=”Stan Wawrinka won the Australian Open in 2014.” style=”width:100%px;” src=”/-/media/images/news/2026/01/04/05/32/wawrinka-feature-1d.jpg” />
Wawrinka with the trophy after winning the Australian Open in 2014. Photo: Getty Images.
Wawrinka beat Federer in the 2015 Roland Garros quarter-finals en route to the title and in the 2014 Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters final, his lone Masters 1000 title.
Who was the toughest to beat?
“All three were really difficult to play against,” he said. “You can see my record against them: I lost more than 20 times to each of them, but of course Rafa especially on clay was the toughest with him hitting high forehands into my one-handed backhand, constantly putting pressure. It’s tough to generate something from there and put him under pressure. And then he had the lefty serve.”
Having played through the Big Three era, Wawrinka believes the new Big Two dominance of Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner is likely to endure, at least in the short to medium term.
“I do believe we are in the Carlos and Jannik era; they’ve been proving that for a few years their level is higher than the rest of the players,” said Wawrinka. “I’m not sure we will have a player to fight against them constantly, but for sure they’re not gonna win every single title all the time.
“I still believe they’re gonna dominate this sport for the next many years. It will be really interesting to see where they’re gonna end up in 5-10 years or 15 years. The thing is to challenge the Novak records, you need to last 15 years at least.”
For all the success on the court, Norman is equally, if not more, proud of the man Wawrinka has been off the court.
“He’s like a normal good guy who has always stuck to his values,” said the former World No. 2 and Roland Garros finalist. “He was always very humble and treated everyone the same whether he was winning or losing. I think that’s a big part of why we are together after so many years. He respects everyone whether it’s the ballkids, a World No. 1 or the cleaning lady.”
<img alt=”Stan Wawrinka and coach Magnus Norman celebrate their 2015 Roland Garros triumph.” style=”width:100%;” src=”/-/media/images/news/2026/01/04/08/58/wawrinka-norman-french-2015.jpg” />
Stan Wawrinka and coach Magnus Norman celebrate their 2015 Roland Garros triumph. Photo: Getty Images.
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