Stan Wawrinka retires from tennis after Basel defeat to Jiri Lehecka

Basel farewell

Wawrinka's final tour-level match came in the first round of the Swiss Indoors in Basel on Tuesday. He lost to Jiri Lehecka 7-5 7-6 (7-2), the BBC reported. Lehecka, ranked No.21, is 17 years younger than the 41-year-old Swiss. The defeat ended a career of 985 matches and three Grand Slam titles. Wawrinka, his family and his team were dabbing their eyes as the defeat sank in.

"All I wanted in my career was to give everything, have no regrets, to always fight, to always give 100% in every match." Wawrinka told the ATP website.

Tennis365 reported Basel would be his last official tournament, with an exhibition in December to follow.

Final season

Wawrinka announced before the Australian Open that 2026 would be his last year, when he was 40 and ranked 157th. By Basel he was 41 and ranked 152nd, the Tennis Gazette reported. He won 10 matches in 2026, four against top-100 opponents.

Career

Wawrinka is one of eight players with multiple Grand Slam titles since 2003, alongside the Big Four, Carlos Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner and Alexander Zverev, the Tennis Gazette reported.

Yahoo reported that Wawrinka is the only player to beat both Nadal and Djokovic at the same Grand Slam. He did it at the 2014 Australian Open. Seeded eighth, he had lost his previous 14 matches against Djokovic before winning their quarter-final. He then beat Nadal, the top seed, in the final. The only Grand Slam final he lost was the 2017 French Open, to Nadal.

His 160 Grand Slam singles match wins are the most of any player who never held the world No.1 ranking, according to OptaAce. Tomas Berdych is next on 146, 14 behind. Wawrinka reached a career-high No.3 in 2014 and won 16 ATP titles. His three majors put him level with Andy Murray, Arthur Ashe and Jan Kodes, Yahoo reported.

The first came at 28. Before that, his career had ticked along steadily rather than spectacularly, the BBC wrote. At the 2015 French Open he beat Federer in the quarter-finals and Djokovic in the final. At the 2016 US Open he saved a match point against Britain's Dan Evans in the third round, then beat Djokovic again for the title. Against Nadal and Djokovic combined he won nine of 49 matches, Yahoo reported.

He also won Olympic doubles gold with Federer in 2008. The pair helped Switzerland win its first Davis Cup in 2014.

Tributes

Pegula, Keys and Brady spoke on the Player's Box Podcast, comments the Tennis Gazette published. "I think he was very underrated. Extremely underrated; he won his Slams beating the 'Big Three'. He does not get enough credit in my opinion," Pegula said. Keys said three Grand Slams was "crazy" in an era featuring three of the greatest players of all time.

Novak Djokovic practised with Wawrinka in Basel. He called him a legend. "Stan's had an incredible career. The competitor he is on court, talent, strength, power, precision, he had it all," the BBC quoted the 39-year-old Serb as saying.