ATP tour
Why Stan Wawrinka’s last dance will be more salsa than slow waltz
ATPTour.com speaks to Wawrinka and long-time coach Magnus Norman at the United Cup in Perth
January 4, 2026
Stan Wawrinka toils for more than three hours to win his first match of his farewell 2026 season at the United Cup in Perth.
By Paul Macpherson
A farewell tour?
That is not a sentence that suits Stan Wawrinka at the start of his 25th yeare and final season on the ATP Tour.
Send your good wishes and compliments and they will be received politely and with appreciation. But that of Switzerland other tennis treasure is determined to crown – instead of discoloring – one of the best careers of the past 20 years by doing what he does best in 2026: fighting with all his might to win as many matches as possible.
For proof, look no further than Wawrinka’s season opener at the United Cup in Perth: three hours and 18 minutes of toiling in the heat, the 40-year-old rallied from a set down to upset Top 30 Frenchman Arthur Rinderknech in a third-set tie-break. It was a gritty victory – the 583rd of his career – which backed up his comments to ATPtour.com a day earlier.
“I am happy with my decision to announce that this is my last year, but I am not doing this year just to say goodbye,” Wawrinka said. “I’m a competitor. I want to push my limits, I still want to fight against good players. I still want to win matches. I want to try to be in the Top 100 again at the age of 40.”
“Throughout my career I feel like I have maximized everything I could; that has always been my goal and it continues to be so this past year. It was always about pushing my own limits and I have achieved much more than I could have dreamed of when I was young.”
Despite more than twenty years on Tour, the three-time Grand Slam champion remains a fierce competitor at heart. Why else would he make it through 29 ATP Challenger matches in 2025 as his PIF ATP ranking? [now 157] languished far outside the Top 100 and kept him out of the main tour for an extended period of time?
“He loves the hard work and the hard lifestyle, pushing his body to the limits, both physically and mentally,” said former coach Magnus Norman in Perth this week. “And he loves to perform in front of people. Last year at the Napoli Challenger the audience was completely interested in the matches. For him it doesn’t matter whether it’s a Challenger or a Grand Slam.”
Wawrinka, winner of 16 titles, agrees: “I am lucky to have had the opportunity to win Slams and play on the biggest stages, but the emotion I get from playing a match, the feeling of the competition and playing in front of people is the same even when you play on the small courts. If you are passionate about what you do, the stadium doesn’t matter.”
ATP Challengers are a far cry from the center courts of Roland Garros and the Australian and US Opens where Wawrinka signed his legacy. With Norman at his side, Wawrinka won the majors for three consecutive years between 2014 and 2016: at Melbourne Park in 2014, at Roland Garros in 2015 and at the cavernous Arthur Ashe Stadium in 2016.
Norman shared a favorite memory of Wawrinka’s last Grand Slam triumph, a four-set victory over Novak Djokovic in the 2016 US Open final. As the referee called for the finalists to gather for their escort to the court, the Swede delivered an emotional speech.
“He played really good tennis and I thought he would have a good match, but against Novak you’re not sure if it will be enough,” Norman said. “I told him that no matter what happens, I am so proud of what he has done.”
The words brought Wawrinka to tears, which then brought Norman to tears.
“The referee calls the game off and we’re both sitting in the dressing room crying. But it was what we needed because there had been a lot of tension. It was a bit of a release for both of us,” Norman added.
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Stan Wawrinka and Novak Djokovic embrace after the 2016 US Open final. Photo: Getty Images.
For his part, Wawrinka said his previous Grand Slam final victory over Djokovic at Roland Garros in 2015 remains his favorite.
“They are all very special in different ways,” he said. “Australia was where I won my first Slam [against Rafael Nadal] the following year I lost a tough match to Novak in five sets. For me that was a turning point in my career.
“But if I have to choose one, I’d go for the French Open. I grew up in the French part of Switzerland and when I was young I watched the tournament every summer. It was easy to watch the French Open all day and friends and family would come because it was very close to home.
“I grew up with clay, so I will choose this one for many reasons.”
The victory over Djokovic on the Philippe-Chatrier court included one of the most iconic moments in modern Grand Slam finals: a round-the-net topspin backhand winner from deep and wide behind the baseline that left fans stunned.
“It’s obviously a great memory; at that moment I felt really good. That was one set and it was a break for me in the third. I really felt and played the way I wanted.”
“I saw the ball. I saw the hole. I went for it.”
“In that moment you just feel so good because it’s already a great achievement to be in the final of the French Open and then to hit that shot and play so well against Novak Djokovic is something I will always remember.”
Stan Wawrinka in action at Roland Garros in 2015.” style=”width:100%;” src=”https://www.atptour.com/-/media/images/news/2026/01/04/05/43/wawrinka-feature-1e.jpg”>
Wawrinka in action at Roland Garros 2015. Photo: Getty Images.
Wawrinka has a combined record of 12-63 against the Big Three – Nadal (3-19), Federer (3-23), Djokovic (6-21) – but many of the wins came when they counted most. In the Grand Slam final he was 3-1.
“If Stan had a good day in his prime, no one was safe,” Norman said. “He could hit winners from both sides from two to three meters behind the baseline. He served and moved well, was physically strong.”
“He was really good in the big moments. Grand Slam champions have something that other players don’t have. I was in a Grand Slam final and the moment touched me. He could handle those situations. I think you are born with it.”
Wawrinka defeated Nadal at the 2014 Australian Open, his first major title
He defeated Djokovic in the 2015 Roland Garros final and the 2016 US Open final. In 2014, he defeated the Serbian 9–7 in the fifth set of the Australian Open quarter-finals on his way to the title victory over Nadal, a year after Djokovic defeated him 12–10 in the fifth set in the fourth round of the Australian Open.
Stan Wawrinka won the Australian Open in 2014.” style=”width:100%px;” src=”https://www.atptour.com/-/media/images/news/2026/01/04/05/32/wawrinka-feature-1d.jpg”>
Wawrinka with the trophy after winning the Australian Open in 2014. Photo: Getty Images.
Wawrinka defeated Federer in the quarterfinals of Roland Garros in 2015 on his way to the title and in the final of the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters in 2014, his only Masters 1000 title.
Who was the hardest to beat?
“All three were very difficult to play against,” he said. “You can see my record against them: I lost more than 20 times to each of them, but of course Rafa, especially on clay, was the toughest, hitting high forehands into my one-handed backhand, putting constant pressure on him. It’s hard to take something out of that and put pressure on him. And then he had the lefty serve.”
Having played through the era of the Big Three, Wawrinka believes the new dominance of the Big Two of Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner is likely to continue, at least in the short to medium term.
“I really believe that we are in the Carlos and Jannik era; they have been proving for a few years that their level is higher than the rest of the players,” Wawrinka said. “I’m not sure if we will have a player who will fight against them all the time, but it is certain that they will not always win every title.
“I still believe they will dominate this sport in the coming years. It will be very interesting to see where they will end up in 5-10 years or 15 years. The point is to challenge the Novak records, you have to keep it up for at least 15 years.”
Despite all the success on the field, Norman is just as, if not more, proud of the man Wawrinka has been off the field.
“He is a normal, good guy who has always stuck to his values,” said the former world number 2 and Roland Garros finalist. “He was always very humble and treated everyone the same, whether he won or lost. I think that’s a big part of why we’re together after so many years. He respects everyone, whether it’s the ball kids, a world No. 1 or the cleaning lady.”
Stan Wawrinka and coach Magnus Norman celebrate their victory at Roland Garros in 2015.” style=”width:100%;” src=”https://www.atptour.com/-/media/images/news/2026/01/04/08/58/wawrinka-norman-french-2015.jpg”>
Stan Wawrinka and coach Magnus Norman celebrate their triumph at Roland Garros 2015. Photo: Getty Images.
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