Stan Wawrinka described his farewell from tennis as “much more beautiful than I could have dreamed” after playing the last match of his career at the 2026 Swiss Indoors.
The three-time Grand Slam champion retired after a 7-5, 7-6(2) loss to Jiri Lehecka in the first round in Basel on Tuesday night.
Wawrinka firmly established himself one of the most popular players on the ATP Tour during an outstanding career than began in 2002.
Speaking to ATPTour.com, Wawrinka revealed he has “no regrets” when asked about his legacy.
“It’s not up to me. There are different visions of me as a player over the past 20 years,” the former world No 3 said.
“For me, all I wanted in my career was to give everything, to have no regrets, to always fight, to always give 100% in every match — out of respect for myself, for the opponent, for the tournament, for the fans, for everybody.
“That was always the most important thing for more than 20 years, and that’s the only way you can leave the sport: without any regrets.”
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The 41-year-old Swiss received a lengthy round of applause from journalists as he arrived for his post-match press conference.
Here is what an emotional Wawrinka said to the media.
“Thank you very much, it’s very kind of you, thank you. Mixed, a bit of everything, a bit of everything, a bit of everything… I’m sorry.
“Basically, I’m very happy, I’m very, very happy to have been able to live this last year. Obviously, I’m sad to know that I won’t be able to experience this kind of emotion anymore, that I won’t be able to play at this level, to be able to play in front of the world, to be able to play in Switzerland. But as I said, for me, in the end, I’m getting old.
“It’s been a few years now, after my big injuries, that I fought to come back to a correct level. I was out of blood in recent years. The body doesn’t always follow as much as I would like, neither does the head.
“And it’s true that I’ve always dreamed of being able to finish in my terms, to be able to finish feeling good, being competitive, and that’s what I managed to do this year. This year was exceptional, it was with a lot of emotion, of course. There was a lot of sadness at every tournament where I said goodbye, because I knew it was the end every time.
“But it was much more beautiful than I could have dreamed, than I could have imagined. This year, I received so much love, I experienced so much emotion. In the last year, at 41 years old, I feel competitive. I played with top players, I played with young players too. I played some very good games, we won a few. For me, it’s an ideal end, it’s a dream end.
“And to finish in Switzerland, with such an audience, with such enthusiasm, to have this chance, to have a ceremony like it was yesterday, with so much love from the public, from the fans, from the tournament, from all the people who have been there all these years, it’s not something I could have imagined a few years ago, quite simply.
“And so, inevitably, there are tears, inevitably, tomorrow it’s going to be a lot of tears. Not necessarily because of the alcohol, but more because of the sadness, because the book, we have to close it at some point.
“But when you’re an athlete, you know it’s going to happen one day. When you like what you do, when you like the game, you want to push the limits to the maximum. That’s what I did, I’m 41 years old.
“I think I have a lot of luck. I have the chance to have been able to… I provoked this chance, but I have the chance to have been able to live such emotions as tonight, at 41 years old. For me, it’s exceptional.”
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