The veteran Wawrinka started the year with a 3 hour 20 minute blockbuster

Ashley Davis04/01/2026

0 78 1 minute read

Article by Maria Olteanu – Published Saturday, 03 January 2026 20:39 / Updated Saturday, 03 January 2026 21:17

In Group C of the United Cup in Perth, veteran Stan Wawrinka (40, ATP No. 157) began 2026 with an extremely complicated match that lasted over three hours against Frenchman Arthur Rinderknech (30, ATP No. 29), 10 years his junior. The Swiss won dramatically, after two sets decided in the tiebreak, score 5-7, 7-6 (5), 7-6 (5).

Despite his age, Wawrinka played an extremely solid match and even though he lost the first set of the encounter, he was able to get back into the match and eventually win the match after three hours and 20 minutes.

The deciding tie-break final set lasted one hour and 17 minutes, and poise was the word that best described the match, in which both players made mistakes on their own serve.

Stan Wawrinka still impresses at 40 years old

At 40, Stan Wawrinka continues to write history in world tennis. With the victory at the United Cup after more than three hours, he managed to win a match for the 23rd different season in his career, a feat by which he equaled Rafael Nadal.

In the Open Era, only a handful of players have managed to amass wins in that many seasons: Jimmy Connors leads the list with 25 seasons, followed by Roger Federer and Richard Gasquet, both with 24. Nadal and Wawrinka now share the next spot with 23 seasons, while Novak Djokovic has won in 22 different career seasons to date.

Swiss tennis player Stan Wawrinka has announced that the 2026 season, in which he will be 41 years old, will mark the end of his career on the ATP circuit. Wawrinka has won a total of 16 ATP titles so far, adding three Grand Slam titles (Australian Open 2014, Roland Garros 2015 and US Open 2016). He lifted the last trophy in 2017, in Geneva.