A generation is coming to an end and the world of tennis begins to propose new champions. 2024 will be remembered as the year in which Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz split their four Majors equally and for the retirement of two authentic legends like Andy Murray and Rafael Nadal. After Roger Federer retired in 2022, Murray has retired from the Paris Olympics this summer and Nadal will play the last event of his career at the Davis Cup Finals next month.
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A few days ago, Dominic Thiems retirement from the tournament in Vienna also arrived. After being defeated by Luciano Darderi at his debut, the 2020 US Open champion greeted his fans and began a new chapter in his life. The Austrian could have played the game, but his wrist injury and inability to return to his best level convinced him to stop.
Among the players who are in the last part of their career, there is definitely Stan Wawrinka. The Swiss champion is no longer competitive to win the major titles, but his love for tennis is so great that he still enjoys traveling and playing against players much younger than him. The former Top 10 deserves the utmost respect, despite its results are not up to his weight.
Wawrinka doesn't give up
The three-time Grand Slam champion has been a great opponent for the Big 3 (Federer, Nadal and Djokovic) during his golden years, having reached impressive peaks especially between 2014 and 2017. 'Stanimal' won the Australian Open in 2014, before triumphing at the French Open in 2015 and the US Open in 2016.
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The Swiss champion, winner of 3 Grand Slam titles, spoke at the end of the press conference of the tournament in Basel where he was defeated and said: "My plan is to continue. I am physically and technically fine and feel like Im still at a very good level. Then of course much will depend on the results and the ranking I get. If I dont have the chance to play in the big tournaments that could affect my motivation but so far it hasnt been so".
Currently Wawrinka is number 149 in the world and often needs wild cards to enter the big tournaments but especially Stan still maintains a good condition and is able to fight: "Now its up to me to do things well on the field and improve my ranking, only then I will have the opportunity to be able to choose the tournaments that I like. My passion for tennis has not diminished.
He also added: "I have never said that I am making any decision to retire myself from tennis this year. I've said I'm getting older, and of course I'm near the end, but I'm still playing well and I'm competitive when I play. I enjoy what I do and I enjoy waking up and going to training and still having the opportunity to play in such a nice tournament like this. As long as I enjoy it, I will continue to push myself a little bit.
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A very long career
Wawrinka made it clear that unless there are twists and turns, he would like to stay on the court again throughout 2025. Like some of his colleagues, the Swiss ace has also suffered several injuries in recent years (especially to the knee). The three-time Grand Slam champion is struggling to compete against young ATP tour talent, but he has no intention of giving up.
Stan was defeated by Ben Shelton in the second round of the Basel ATP 500. During the press conference, the young American ace paid tribute to Wawrinka: We were joking in the locker room before the match that hes been on tour as much as Ive lived... Hes got a lot of experience and a lot of love around the world. Hes done incredible things for our sport. Especially here in Switzerland. You can tell with the fan support today. I had to smile at times today because obviously its against me but its so cool to see a country and tournament get behind a guy like that whos been such an icon. Shout out to Stan. I dont think Im still gonna be out here winning matches at 39.
2025 could be the last year of the Swiss champions career, who will give his all to win one last title before he says goodbye to professional tennis. Stan played some good matches in 2024, but hes struggling to keep up the game for several days in a row. Fans are curious to see what hell do next year.
