Stan Wawrinka walked off Court Suzanne-Lenglen on Sunday evening to a standing ovation that lasted seven minutes, the 41-year-old Swiss waving to all four corners of the arena where he had lifted the Coupe des Mousquetaires eleven years earlier. The 2015 champion’s French Open journey ended with a 6-2, 6-3, 6-4 first-round defeat to British qualifier Jacob Fearnley, but the scoreline was a footnote to the sight of three generations of Parisian spectators rising as one to salute a player who had given Roland Garros some of its most defiant theatre.
“In the end, I gave my all,” Wawrinka said, his voice cracking as he addressed the crowd in French. “This tournament gave me everything. My greatest day as a tennis player happened on this court next door. I leave with my heart full.” Tournament director Amelie Mauresmo presented him with a framed photograph from his 2015 final win over Novak Djokovic, the match in which his single-handed backhand became part of clay-court folklore.
A first-round exit that felt like a coronation
Fearnley, the 23-year-old world number 71 from Edinburgh, played the match of a nervous young professional asked to dismantle a monument. He broke Wawrinka’s serve seven times across the two hours and 14 minutes, striking 28 winners to the Swiss veteran’s 19 and conceding only 11 unforced errors in the opening set. Wawrinka, ranked 743 and competing on a protected ranking after foot surgery last autumn, struggled to find the depth that once made his ground strokes a punishment.
The signature backhand still produced flashes — a down-the-line winner at 2-4 in the third set drew the loudest roar of the afternoon — but the legs that had carried him through five-set epics against Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray no longer responded. At 4-4 in the third, Wawrinka saved three match points with consecutive aces before Fearnley converted his fourth with a backhand pass that the Swiss applauded with his racket.
“It’s the most surreal win of my career,” Fearnley said. “He’s a hero of mine. I grew up watching the 2015 final on YouTube. To share a court with him on his last day here — I’ll remember every point.”
The legacy of a single-handed swordsman
Wawrinka leaves Roland Garros having played the tournament 18 times since his debut in 2005. His record reads:
- Champion in 2015, defeating Djokovic 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-4 in the final
- Runner-up in 2017, losing to Nadal in straight sets
- Semi-finalist in 2013 and 2019
- 54 main-draw match wins, the most by any Swiss man other than Roger Federer
- Holder of the tournament’s fastest recorded backhand at 168 km/h
The 2015 triumph remains one of the modern era’s great anomalies. Wawrinka entered that final as the eighth seed against a Djokovic chasing the career Grand Slam, and won by hitting through the Serb with a level of aggression no clay-court final had previously witnessed. His 60 winners that day, struck mostly from the baseline, redefined what was possible against the sport’s most relentless defender. Mats Wilander called the performance “the most courageous final of the decade.”
What comes next for Wawrinka and the men’s game
Wawrinka confirmed in his post-match press conference that he will continue playing on the ATP Tour through Wimbledon and the US Open before retiring at the Swiss Indoors in Basel in October. “Paris was the one I needed to say goodbye to properly,” he said. “Everywhere else, I will just compete. Here, I had to feel it.” He turns 42 in March and has not won a tour-level match since February 2025.
His departure thins further the ranks of the single-handed backhand, a stroke now carried at the top of the men’s game only by Stefanos Tsitsipas, Grigor Dimitrov and Lorenzo Musetti. Roger Federer retired in 2022, Richard Gasquet bowed out at this tournament last year, and Dominic Thiem hung up his racket in October. The aesthetic Wawrinka championed — the long backswing, the squared shoulders, the willingness to flatten the ball on the rise — is becoming a museum piece.
For Fearnley, the reward is a second-round meeting with 12th seed Tommy Paul on Tuesday. The Briton has now won three of his four Grand Slam main-draw matches in 2026, a stretch that began with a five-set victory over Daniel Altmaier at the Australian Open. For Wawrinka, the reward is simpler: a final lap of the Bois de Boulogne, and the certainty that when he walked out of the locker room for the last time, the entire stadium was on its feet.
Sports journalist and editor at SportsPortal.net. Covers cricket, football, Formula 1, tennis, and basketball with a focus on how global sports connect with Pakistani audiences. Follows the PSL, Pakistan national cricket team, Premier League, and major international tournaments. Has reported on sports for digital audiences since 2021.
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