Stan Wawrinka’s last tour looks more fight than farewell.
At 40 and entering his 25th and final ATP season, Wawrinka has no interest in a procession. He says he wants to crown rather than tarnish one of the finest careers of the past two decades, so expect more fighting, more grit and the same single-minded will to win matches.
Wawrinka’s Final Season: No Farewell Tour
I’m good with my decision to announce this is my last year, but I’m not doing a year just to say goodbye,
Stan Wawrinka
He backed that stance at the United Cup in Perth, rallying from a set down to beat Top 30 Arthur Rinderknech in a third-set tie-break after a gruelling three hours and 18 minutes in baking heat. That comeback marked the 583rd victory of his career and underlined he still loves to fight for every point.
The work often happens away from center court and TV cameras. In 2025 he played through 29 ATP Challenger matches while his PIF ATP Ranking sat at 157, a formula that kept him off the main tour at times but never dimmed his appetite for matches or improvement.
Why He Keeps Fighting
Magnus Norman, his long-serving coach, points to a simple truth: Wawrinka revels in hard work and in performing for people, whether on a packed Grand Slam stage or a smaller clay court in Napoli. For Stan the emotion of competition is constant, and that feeling keeps him motivated at every level.
With Norman by his side Wawrinka converted potential into trophies across three peak years, claiming majors in 2014, 2015 and 2016 and becoming a three-time Grand Slam champion. He also owns 16 career titles, achievements that explain why he still chases matches and sees this final season as another chapter to write.
Legacy And Big Moments
He singles out Roland Garros as particularly special, partly for geography and partly for feeling. Growing up in French-speaking Switzerland and on clay, Wawrinka watched the tournament every summer and brought family and friends to matches, so the 2015 triumph on Philippe-Chatrier remains deeply personal and a highlight of his career.
The head-to-head numbers against the game’s greats look severe but tell only part of the story. His combined mark versus the Big Three is 12-63, split into 3-19 against Nadal, 3-23 versus Federer and 6-21 against Djokovic, while his Grand Slam finals record stands at a striking 3-1.
Those big wins came when it mattered most. He beat Rafael Nadal to claim the 2014 Australian Open, then took Djokovic in the 2015 Roland Garros final and again in the 2016 US Open final. He also won the Monte-Carlo Masters in 2014, his lone Masters 1000 title, showing peak performances across different stages.
Norman recalls the raw emotion of that 2016 US Open week when both coach and player were moved to tears in the locker room before the final. That moment, he says, was a release after sustained tension and a reminder of how much the achievements cost both men emotionally and physically.
Looking ahead, Wawrinka accepts the present era is shaped by Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner, whom he expects to dominate for the near future. He notes that to challenge Novak’s records a player needs longevity of roughly 15 years, a rare measure that only the most enduring athletes can hope to reach.
Off court, Norman admires Wawrinka’s humility and consistency in how he treats people, from ballkids to rivals and support staff. That good-citizen quality, Norman says, helped sustain their long partnership and means Wawrinka is respected for character as well as for headline victories.
So what will this final season actually look like on paper and in person? Expect gritty comebacks under the sun, purposeful trips to challenger events and a determined push to re-enter the Top 100 at age 40. His plan sounds pragmatic: push limits, collect wins and exit still competing rather than commemorating.
Stan Wawrinka is not staging a slow waltz off the tour; call it a salsa instead: quicker, less predictable and full of snap. The mix of craft, power and stubbornness promises late-career drama and a season that will be fought point by point rather than politely acknowledged in speeches.
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Christoph Friedrich is a German tennis player and coach currently residing in Oakland, California. He began his tennis journey at the age of eight and has since dedicated his life to the sport. After working as a tennis coach and hitting partner in New York City for eight years, Christoph decided to share his knowledge and experience with tennis players around the world by creating the My Tennis Expert blog. His goal is to make tennis education accessible to everyone and help players select the best equipment for their game, from racquets and strings to shoes and overgrips. Christoph's extensive research and expertise in tennis technology make him a valuable resource for players of all levels.
