Stan Wawrinka’s career ended on Tuesday evening at the Swiss Indoors in Basel, where the 41-year-old Swiss lost 7-5, 7-6(2) to eighth seed Jiri Lehecka in the first round in the city where he had chosen to finish.
The final point of 985 tour-level matches was a backhand that landed beyond the baseline. Wawrinka had announced in December 2025 that 2026 would be his last season, and this was his 19th main-draw appearance in Basel, equalling the tournament record.
A Competitive Defeat
Lehecka, ranked inside the world’s top 25, needed close to two hours to finish it. Wawrinka held his own for long stretches and took the second set to a tie-break, where the younger man pulled away.
The result was in keeping with a difficult final year. Wawrinka went into the week with a record of one win and eleven defeats against top-50 opponents in 2026, and his best result of the season had come in January, when he reached the third round of the Australian Open and became the oldest man to do so since 1978.
He was unsentimental about the tennis afterwards.
It was “obviously a tough match,” he said, adding that Lehecka “was better in the decisive moments.” He described playing in front of a Swiss crowd one final time as “something very special to be here one last time.”
Asked how he felt once it was over, he did not disguise it. “It’s tough tonight—it’s tough. I’m sad, but I’ve got a smile on my face,” he said. He thanked the Basel crowd for support he called “extraordinary,” and said finishing in Switzerland was “the perfect ending for me.”
Three Majors, Three World No. 1s
Wawrinka turned professional in 2002 and spent most of his career in the same era as Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray. He won three major titles, and the manner of all three sets him apart: in each final he beat the reigning world No. 1.
He took the 2014 Australian Open by beating Nadal, the 2015 French Open by beating Djokovic, and the 2016 US Open by beating Djokovic again. He reached a career-high ranking of No. 3 in 2014.
The wider record runs to 16 singles titles and 590 tour-level wins, with 63 victories over top-ten opponents, five of them against players ranked No. 1 in the world. He also won Olympic doubles gold with Federer in Beijing in 2008 and was part of Switzerland’s Davis Cup-winning team in 2014.
A Tribute on the Eve of the Tournament
Basel had prepared for the farewell in advance. A presentation was held on Monday evening before the main draw began, with tournament director Roger Brennwald speaking and video messages from Djokovic and Federer played on the stadium screen.
Brennwald anticipated the mood of the week. “This year, a few tears will be shed along the way,” he said, and in describing the player the tournament was honouring reached for an unusual comparison, saying Wawrinka “has become the Sylvester Stallone of tennis.”
Djokovic, who lost two major finals to him, spoke about temperament. “You are one of the most passionate tennis players I have ever met,” he said.
Federer, his doubles partner in Beijing and Davis Cup teammate, was warmer still. “From the bottom of my heart, congratulations on your incredible career,” he said, adding that it was “wonderful” the two of them “were able to experience so much together.”
Twenty-Four Years
Wawrinka leaves the tour having played into his fifth decade and having spent much of the past three years working back from knee and foot surgery, often through qualifying draws and Challenger events rather than the main tours he once won on.
The Swiss Indoors continues without him. His last competitive act was to walk off the court in Basel to a standing ovation from a crowd that had watched him there for nineteen years.
