Article by Roxana Fleşeru – Published on Saturday, 23 May 2026 23:00 / Updated on Saturday, 23 May 2026 23:22
Stan Wawrinka (41 years old, 119 ATP) will play his last Roland Garros, and luck seems to be smiling on him. The former world number three was going to meet him on Arthur Fils (21 years old, 19 ATP), in the first round, but he withdrew, being replaced by Jesper de Jong (25 years old, 109 ATP).
Stan Wawrinka has reached the point where he has to say goodbye to Roland Garros, the tournament he won in 2015 after a dramatic final against Novak Djokovic.
“The image that will stick in my mind is walking up the steps and onto the field in 2015. It was probably the most important moment I've had at this tournament,” said the Swiss.
Magnus Norman and Stan Wawrinka with the trophy at Roland Garros 2015 Photo: Guliver/GettyImages
Winner of the 2014 Australian Open, 2015 Roland Garros and 2016 US Open, Stan will meet Jesper de Jong (109 ATP) in the first round in Paris after Arthur Fils withdrew due to injury.
In Melbourne, he reached the third round, bidding farewell to the Australian Open by crashing a beer on the court with tournament director Craig Tiley. What will happen in Paris? “I don't think if the organizers have prepared something for me, but I'm glad that I can play here for the last time and I hope to give everything on the field”, he Stan said.
Stan Wawrinka: 'I can't wait to put my racket away'
He also talked about what he thinks he will miss after he retires at the end of the season. “Probably the emotions you feel when you play a match, especially in such an important tournament like Roland Garros. When you have a lot of people in front of you, a large audience like the one here, it generates a lot of positive stress, but also stress that is difficult to manage. I know that these are emotions that I will not find anywhere else. I'm very happy with what I've achieved in this long tennis career and I'm looking forward to putting my racket away to enjoy other things, but I still have a few months to play on the circuit.”Wawrinka said.
After receiving praise for his one-handed backhand, Wawrinka was asked if he thought there would ever be another player to win a Grand Slam with a backhand like that. “At the moment it's hard to imagine such a thing, especially since Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz are dominating. I'm convinced that there will be players who will have one-handed lapels and I hope that in the future they will also win a Grand Slam trophy.”
Stan Wawrinka has another brand of his own in tennis, the gesture of putting his finger to his head after an extraordinary point. “I think the first time I did it was in Australia in 2014. It came naturally to me. It was more of a celebratory gesture, to show that I beat my own emotions, my own thoughts, that I was able to beat the best and that I won important matches against top players that, even though I was playing well, I couldn't beat them because of my mind, because of my emotions,” he said Wawrinka.
