A home farewell closes Wawrinka’s 24-year professional career
Stan Wawrinka’s professional tennis career ended at his home tournament in Basel on Tuesday, October 27, when Jiří Lehečka defeated him 7–5, 7–6(2) in the first round of the Swiss Indoors. The result was confirmed early on October 28 in the Philippines.
The 41-year-old Swiss had announced that 2026 would be his final season and chosen Basel for his last tournament. His defeat to the eighth seed therefore brought a definitive end to a career that began in 2002 and produced three Grand Slam singles titles.
Wawrinka remained competitive through two tight sets before Lehečka controlled the second-set tiebreak. The Associated Press reported that Wawrinka’s final shot was a backhand that went wide. The home crowd then gave him an extended farewell at St. Jakobshalle.
The tournament had already celebrated his career on Monday, October 26. According to Swiss Indoors organisers, the ceremony lasted more than an hour and included his family, a live portrait and a performance by singer Bastian Baker. This was Wawrinka’s 19th appearance at the event, where he reached the semifinals in 2006 and 2011.
His greatest successes came away from Basel. Wawrinka defeated Rafael Nadal to win the 2014 Australian Open, then beat Novak Djokovic in the 2015 Roland Garros final and again in the 2016 US Open final. Each victory came against the player ranked world No. 1 at the time.
He reached a career-high ranking of No. 3 and collected 16 tour-level singles titles. Alongside Roger Federer, he also won Olympic doubles gold for Switzerland in Beijing in 2008 and helped the country secure its first Davis Cup title in 2014.
Lehečka advances to face Daniel Altmaier in the last 16. For Wawrinka, the Basel result closes his playing career after a final appearance in front of the Swiss supporters who had gathered to mark it.