The latest stage of Stan Wawrinka’s farewell from tennis took place this week with the Swiss playing his last Tour-level match on the clay at the Estoril Open.
The three-time Grand Slam champion lost his opening match to Argentina’s Roman Andres Burruchaga, who prevailed 6-4, 4-6, 6-3. Wawrinka was bidding to become the oldest man to win a match on clay since Jimmy Connors in 1994, as well as the oldest to ever do so at the tournament. Nevertheless, he has managed to win 10 matches on the Tour since turning 40, more than anyone else since the ATP Tour was established in 1990.
“I grew up on clay. I grew up practising on clay and watching clay-court tournaments, so clay was always special for me,” Wawrinka said after his latest loss.
A former world No.3 with 16 titles to his name, Wawrinka is hoping to be able to continue his farewell in America next month at the US Open. An event he won in 2016 and reached the semi-finals on two other occasions. Currently ranked 118th in the world, he hasn’t made the cut for automatic entry into the main draw.
However, he is hoping for a wild card from organisers, which will make him avoid having to play in the qualifying rounds. He was given such passes at the Australian Open and Wimbledon earlier this year.
“I’ve requested a wild card for the US Open. I hope to be able to play there one last time,” Wawrinka confirmed.
“There’s also a Challenger tournament in Cancún. If I get the wild card for New York (US Open), I’ll play that Challenger to prepare,” he added.
As it currently stands, Wawrinka is down to play events in Lyon, France and Basel, Switzerland. Although he has yet to finalise his calendar, others could be added to his schedule. One of those he hopes will be the US Open, where he has produced a 46-16 win-loss record over 17 appearances.
“I’m trying to maintain a good level of play, put together a suitable schedule, and play the tournaments I’ve always enjoyed,” he commented.
“Unfortunately, my week here (in Estoril) was very short. But I’m very happy to have returned.”
Since January, Wawrinka has played 20 ATP matches but has only won seven of them. His best result was at the Australian Open, where he reached the third round before losing to Taylor Fritz. After Australia, he has yet to win back-to-back matches at another tournament.
