Stanislas Wawrinka
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Stanislas "Stan" Wawrinka (; born 28 March 1985) is a Swiss professional
tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...
player. He reached a career-high
Association of Tennis Professionals The Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) is the governing body of the men's professional tennis circuits – the ATP Tour, the ATP Challenger Tour and the ATP Champions Tour. It was formed in September 1972 by Donald Dell, Jack Kramer, an ...
(ATP) singles
ranking A ranking is a relationship between a set of items such that, for any two items, the first is either "ranked higher than", "ranked lower than" or "ranked equal to" the second. In mathematics, this is known as a weak order or total preorder of o ...
of world No. 3 for the first time on 27 January 2014. His career highlights include three
Grand Slam Grand Slam most often refers to: * Grand Slam (tennis), one player or pair winning all four major annual tournaments, or the tournaments themselves Grand Slam or Grand slam may also refer to: Games and sports * Grand slam, winning category te ...
titles, those being the
2014 Australian Open The 2014 Australian Open was a tennis tournament that took place at Melbourne Park between 13 and 26 January 2014. It was the 102nd edition of the Australian Open, and the first Grand Slam tournament of the year. The tournament consisted of event ...
,
2015 French Open The 2015 French Open was a tennis tournament played on outdoor clay courts. It was the 119th edition of the French Open and the second Grand Slam event of the year. It took place at the Stade Roland Garros from 24 May to 7 June and consisted of e ...
and 2016 US Open, where he defeated the world No. 1 player in the final on all three occasions. Other achievements include reaching the final of the 2017 French Open, winning an
ATP Tour Masters 1000 The ATP Masters 1000 tournaments (previously known as ATP Masters Series) is an annual series of nine tennis tournaments featuring the top-ranked players on the ATP Tour. The series' events have been held in Europe and North America since the ...
title at the 2014 Monte-Carlo Masters, and reaching three other Masters finals (at 2008 Rome, 2013 Madrid and 2017 Indian Wells). Representing Switzerland, Wawrinka won gold in doubles at the
2008 Beijing Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Nat ...
with teammate
Roger Federer Roger Federer (; born 8 August 1981) is a Swiss former professional tennis player. He was ranked List of ATP number 1 ranked singles tennis players#Weeks at No. 1, world No. 1 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for 310 weeks, in ...
, and was also pivotal in the Swiss team's victory at the 2014 Davis Cup.Wawrinka considers
clay Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolin, Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4). Clays develop plasticity when wet, due to a molecular film of water surrounding the clay par ...
his best and favorite surface, and his serve and backhand his best shots.
John McEnroe John Patrick McEnroe Jr. (born February 16, 1959) is an American former professional tennis player. He was known for his shot-making and volleying skills, his rivalries with Björn Borg and Jimmy Connors, and his confrontational on-court beha ...
once said that Wawrinka has one of the most powerful backhands ever, and in 2009 said he possessed "the best one-handed backhand in the game." He has been described by ''
The Economist ''The Economist'' is a British weekly newspaper printed in demitab format and published digitally. It focuses on current affairs, international business, politics, technology, and culture. Based in London, the newspaper is owned by The Econo ...
'' as "Tennis's great latecomer", owing to finding success late in his career. Prior to the
2014 French Open The 2014 French Open was a tennis tournament played on outdoor clay courts. It was the 118th edition of the French Open and the second Grand Slam event of the year. It took place at the Stade Roland Garros from 25 May to 8 June. It consisted of e ...
, he requested and was granted a formal change in his name from "Stanislas Wawrinka" to "Stan Wawrinka", stating that he plans to use the abbreviated name in tournament draws and
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.


Tennis career

Wawrinka started playing tennis at the age of eight, and played once a week until he was eleven, when he started to practise three times a week. Wawrinka stopped attending regular schooling at age 15 to focus full-time on tennis. However, he continued his schooling by distance education with the French organization
CNED The National Centre for Distance Education (''Centre national d'enseignement à distance'' or Cned in French) is a French public institution under the oversight of the Department of Education dedicated to providing distance learning material. It ...
, which offered him greater flexibility. Wawrinka turned professional in 2002 at the age of 17. He was coached from age eight until June 2010 by Dimitri Zavialoff. Wawrinka is a three-time
Grand Slam Grand Slam most often refers to: * Grand Slam (tennis), one player or pair winning all four major annual tournaments, or the tournaments themselves Grand Slam or Grand slam may also refer to: Games and sports * Grand slam, winning category te ...
tournament winner,
Olympic Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece b ...
champion and
Davis Cup The Davis Cup is the premier international team event in men's tennis. It is run by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) and is contested annually between teams from competing countries in a knock-out format. It is described by the organis ...
champion for his country. He achieved a top-10 ranking by the ATP for the first time on 12 May 2008, and first reached a career peak of world No. 3 on 27 January 2014, at the same time as he became the Swiss No. 1. He has reached four Grand Slam singles finals in his career to date, winning three: the
2014 Australian Open The 2014 Australian Open was a tennis tournament that took place at Melbourne Park between 13 and 26 January 2014. It was the 102nd edition of the Australian Open, and the first Grand Slam tournament of the year. The tournament consisted of event ...
, the
2015 French Open The 2015 French Open was a tennis tournament played on outdoor clay courts. It was the 119th edition of the French Open and the second Grand Slam event of the year. It took place at the Stade Roland Garros from 24 May to 7 June and consisted of e ...
and the 2016 US Open; each time he defeated the reigning world No. 1 in the championship match (
Rafael Nadal Rafael Nadal Parera (, ; born 3 June 1986) is a Spanish professional tennis player. He is currently ranked world No. 2 in singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP). He has been ranked List of ATP number 1 ranked singles tennis ...
once and
Novak Djokovic Novak Djokovic ( sr-Cyrl, Новак Ђоковић, translit=Novak Đoković, ; born 22 May 1987) is a Serbian professional tennis player. He has been ranked world No. 1 for a record total 373 weeks, and has finished as the year-end No. 1 ...
twice, respectively). In doubles and team tennis for Switzerland, he has won a
gold medal A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have bee ...
in the men's doubles event at the 2008 Summer Olympics, partnering with
Roger Federer Roger Federer (; born 8 August 1981) is a Swiss former professional tennis player. He was ranked List of ATP number 1 ranked singles tennis players#Weeks at No. 1, world No. 1 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for 310 weeks, in ...
, and the
Davis Cup The Davis Cup is the premier international team event in men's tennis. It is run by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) and is contested annually between teams from competing countries in a knock-out format. It is described by the organis ...
in
2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...
. He is the second Swiss male player to win a Grand Slam after Federer. He played in the longest doubles match in history at the 2013 Davis Cup, in a tie against the Czech Republic, partnering with
Marco Chiudinelli Marco Chiudinelli (born 10 September 1981) is a retired tennis player from Switzerland. A member of Switzerland's winning 2014 Davis Cup squad, he reached his highest singles ranking of 52 in February 2010 during a career that was often hindere ...
.


2002–2003: Juniors and turning pro

Wawrinka started playing international junior events at age 14 and entered the satellite circuit the following year. In 2002 Wawrinka became professional. In 2003 he had his first steps on the tour and ended the year ranked No. 169. He compiled an outstanding junior career, winning the Junior French Open in
2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...
and reaching as high as No. 7 in the junior world rankings in June 2003.


2004–2007: Early career and first title

On 11 July, at
Gstaad Gstaad ( ; ) is a town in the German-speaking section of the Canton of Bern in southwestern Switzerland. It is part of the municipality of Saanen and is known as a major ski resort and a popular destination amongst high society and the internatio ...
, Wawrinka progressed into his first ever career final, in doubles, with
Marc Rosset Marc Rosset (born 7 November 1970) is a Swiss former professional tennis player. He is best known for winning the men's singles gold medal at the 1992 Summer Olympics. He also won a major doubles title, at the French Open in 1992 partnering com ...
as his partner. The Swiss pair lost in the final to
Leander Paes Leander Adrian Paes ( ; born 17 June 1973) is an Indian former professional tennis player. He is regarded as one of the greatest doubles tennis players ever. He holds the record for the most doubles wins in the Davis Cup. Paes won eight men' ...
and
David Rikl David Rikl (born 27 February 1971) is a former professional tennis player from the Czech Republic. His success came mostly in doubles, winning 30 titles and finishing runner-up at the 2004 US Open and 2001 Wimbledon Championships Men's Doubles ...
. That year Wawrinka had his
Davis Cup The Davis Cup is the premier international team event in men's tennis. It is run by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) and is contested annually between teams from competing countries in a knock-out format. It is described by the organis ...
debut with the Swiss National Team. Wawrinka lost his first match against
Victor Hănescu Victor Hănescu (born 21 July 1981) is a former Romanian tennis player. His career-high singles ranking was world no. 26. Professional career Hănescu attained a career-high singles ranking of No. 26 on 6 July 2009. In a Davis Cup match again ...
in a dead rubber. Switzerland won the tie 3–2 against
Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...
and progressed into the World Group quarterfinals. He finished the year ranked No. 162 in the world rankings. Wawrinka had his
Grand Slam Grand Slam most often refers to: * Grand Slam (tennis), one player or pair winning all four major annual tournaments, or the tournaments themselves Grand Slam or Grand slam may also refer to: Games and sports * Grand slam, winning category te ...
debut at the
French Open The French Open (french: Internationaux de France de tennis), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a major tennis tournament held over two weeks at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France, beginning in late May each year. The tournament and ven ...
. He won against 22nd seed and Olympic gold medalist
Nicolás Massú Nicolás Alejandro Massú Fried (; born 10 October 1979), nicknamed ''El Vampiro'' (Spanish, 'the vampire'), is a Chilean former professional tennis player. A former world No. 9 in singles, he won the singles and doubles gold medals at the 200 ...
in the first round, in four sets. In the second round, Wawrinka came from two sets down to defeat James Blake. His run ended in the third round losing in four sets to the eventual runner-up
Mariano Puerta Mariano Rubén Puerta (; born 19 September 1978) is an Argentine former professional tennis player. He reached a career-high ATP world No. 9 singles ranking in August 2005. His career highlight of reaching the final of the French Open in 2005 ...
. After the French Open, Wawrinka had his first
Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * ...
experience but lost in the first round to
Fabrice Santoro Fabrice Vetea Santoro (born 9 December 1972) is a French retired tennis player. Successful in both singles and doubles, he had an unusually long professional career, with many of his accomplishments coming toward the end of his career, and he is ...
in four sets. Wawrinka had his first singles final at the
Swiss Open The Omega European Masters is the Swiss stop on professional men's golf's European Tour, and in 2009 it became the first event in Europe to be co-sanctioned by the Asian Tour. Founded as the Swiss Open in 1923, the tournament was prefixed with Eu ...
, but lost to
Gastón Gaudio Gastón Norberto Gaudio (; born 9 December 1978) is an Argentine retired tennis player. He won eight singles titles and achieved a career-high ATP singles ranking of world No. 5 in April 2005. Gaudio's most significant title win came at the 2004 ...
. At the US Open, Wawrinka defeated
Rajeev Ram Rajeev Ram ( ; born March 18, 1984) is an American professional tennis player who is a former world No. 1 in doubles. Ram is a five-time major champion, having won the 2020 Australian Open, the 2021 US Open, and the 2022 US Open in men's d ...
and Mariano Puerta in five sets before losing in the third round to Nicolás Massú. By the end of 2005, he hovered just inside the top 50. In July, Wawrinka won his first ATP title, at the
Croatia Open Umag The Croatia Open (currently sponsored by Plava laguna) is a men's ATP tennis tournament held in Umag, Croatia that is part of the ATP World Tour 250 series, 250 series of the Association of Tennis Professionals, ATP Tour. The tournament began in ...
, when his opponent in the final,
Novak Djokovic Novak Djokovic ( sr-Cyrl, Новак Ђоковић, translit=Novak Đoković, ; born 22 May 1987) is a Serbian professional tennis player. He has been ranked world No. 1 for a record total 373 weeks, and has finished as the year-end No. 1 ...
, retired through fatigue. In October, Wawrinka reached a then career-high ranking of No. 29. In the
Australian Open The Australian Open is a tennis tournament held annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia. The tournament is the first of the four Grand Slam tennis events held each year, preceding the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open. Th ...
, Wawrinka reached the third round and was beaten by second seed
Rafael Nadal Rafael Nadal Parera (, ; born 3 June 1986) is a Spanish professional tennis player. He is currently ranked world No. 2 in singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP). He has been ranked List of ATP number 1 ranked singles tennis ...
, losing in straight sets. He showed some impressive backhand skills, but was unable to deal with Nadal's heavy game. He suffered a three-month setback, tearing a tendon in his right knee while practicing for the Swiss Davis Cup team's tie against Spain in February. In the
French Open The French Open (french: Internationaux de France de tennis), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a major tennis tournament held over two weeks at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France, beginning in late May each year. The tournament and ven ...
Wawrinka pushed seventh seed
Ivan Ljubičić Ivan Ljubičić (; born 19 March 1979) is a Croatian former professional tennis player. He reached a career-high Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) world No. 3 singles ranking on 1 May 2006. His career highlights include reaching a Grand S ...
to four sets in the second round. He also claimed wins over
Guillermo Cañas Guillermo Ignacio Cañas (; born November 25, 1977), often referred to as Willy Cañas, is a retired tennis player from Argentina. He was born in Buenos Aires and named after Argentine tennis star Guillermo Vilas. Cañas won the 2002 Canada Maste ...
and
Juan Ignacio Chela Juan Ignacio Chela (; born 30 August 1979), nicknamed as “El Flaco” or “Liliano,” is a former professional tennis player from Argentina. Chela was given a three-month ban from the professional tour in 2001 for failing a drugs test. Post-d ...
en route to a meeting with
Rafael Nadal Rafael Nadal Parera (, ; born 3 June 1986) is a Spanish professional tennis player. He is currently ranked world No. 2 in singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP). He has been ranked List of ATP number 1 ranked singles tennis ...
in the final of the
Mercedes Cup The Stuttgart Open (sponsored since 2022 by Hugo Boss and called BOSS Open) is an ATP Tour 250 series professional tennis tournament on the ATP Tour. Between 1970 and 1989, the Stuttgart Open was a Grand Prix tennis circuit event. From 1990 to 19 ...
in
Stuttgart Stuttgart (; Swabian: ; ) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar river in a fertile valley known as the ''Stuttgarter Kessel'' (Stuttgart Cauldron) and lies an hour from the ...
in July. Nadal defeated Wawrinka in straight sets. In the US Open, Wawrinka reached the fourth round, a stage he had never reached previously in a
Grand Slam Grand Slam most often refers to: * Grand Slam (tennis), one player or pair winning all four major annual tournaments, or the tournaments themselves Grand Slam or Grand slam may also refer to: Games and sports * Grand slam, winning category te ...
event, defeating 25th seed
Marat Safin Marat Mubinovich Safin ( rus, Мара́т Муби́нович Са́фин, , mɐˈrat ˈsafʲɪn, Ru-Marat-Safin.ogg; tt-Cyrl, Марат Мөбин улы Сафин; born 27 January 1980) is a Russian retired world No. 1 tennis player an ...
in straight sets in the second round. In the fourth round, he was ousted by
Juan Ignacio Chela Juan Ignacio Chela (; born 30 August 1979), nicknamed as “El Flaco” or “Liliano,” is a former professional tennis player from Argentina. Chela was given a three-month ban from the professional tour in 2001 for failing a drugs test. Post-d ...
in five sets.


2008–2012: Top 10, first Masters final, Olympic Gold

By reaching the final of the Masters Series event in Rome, Wawrinka entered the top 10 for the first time. He lost in the final to
Novak Djokovic Novak Djokovic ( sr-Cyrl, Новак Ђоковић, translit=Novak Đoković, ; born 22 May 1987) is a Serbian professional tennis player. He has been ranked world No. 1 for a record total 373 weeks, and has finished as the year-end No. 1 ...
, despite taking the opening set. In the
Olympics The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a var ...
, Wawrinka teamed with Roger Federer in men's doubles. They beat the favoured Americans
Bob and Mike Bryan The Bryan brothers, identical twin brothers Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan, are retired American professional doubles tennis players and the most successful duo of all time. They were born on April 29, 1978, with Mike being the elder by two minutes. ...
in the semifinals in straight sets; then in the final, defeated
Simon Aspelin Simon Aspelin (; born 11 May 1974) is a former professional tennis doubles player from Sweden who turned professional in 1998. His success mainly came in doubles, winning 12 titles and reaching World No. 7 in March 2008. In men's doubles, Aspel ...
and
Thomas Johansson Karl Thomas Conny Johansson (; born 24 March 1975) is a Swedish retired professional tennis player and coach. He reached a career-high Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) world No. 7 singles ranking on 10 May 2002. His career highlights i ...
of Sweden in four sets to win the gold medal. Wawrinka reached the fourth round of the US Open, where British player
Andy Murray Sir Andrew Barron Murray (born 15 May 1987) is a British professional tennis player from Scotland. He was ranked world No. 1 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for 41 weeks, and finished as the year-end No. 1 in 2016. Murray h ...
defeated him in straight sets. Wawrinka lost to
Rafael Nadal Rafael Nadal Parera (, ; born 3 June 1986) is a Spanish professional tennis player. He is currently ranked world No. 2 in singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP). He has been ranked List of ATP number 1 ranked singles tennis ...
in the fourth round at the
Miami Masters The Miami Open (also known as the Miami Masters, and currently branded as the Miami Open presented by Itaú for sponsorship reasons) is a tennis tournament held at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida. It is part of the men's ATP Tour Mas ...
in Key Biscayne. Nadal came from behind in both sets to beat Wawrinka in two tie-breaks. At the
Monte-Carlo Masters The Monte-Carlo Masters is an annual tennis tournament for male professional players held in Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, France, a commune that borders on Monaco. The event is part of the ATP Tour Masters 1000 on the Association of Tennis Professiona ...
, Wawrinka defeated No. 2
Roger Federer Roger Federer (; born 8 August 1981) is a Swiss former professional tennis player. He was ranked List of ATP number 1 ranked singles tennis players#Weeks at No. 1, world No. 1 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for 310 weeks, in ...
in straight sets, an upset which halted the chance of a fourth straight Nadal-Federer final in Monte Carlo. At the
French Open The French Open (french: Internationaux de France de tennis), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a major tennis tournament held over two weeks at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France, beginning in late May each year. The tournament and ven ...
Wawrinka defeated
Nicolas Devilder Nicolas Devilder (born 25 March 1980) is a retired French tennis player. Devilder reached a career high ATP singles ranking of World No. 60, achieved on 8 September 2008. He also reached a career high ATP doubles ranking of World No. 197, achi ...
in five sets and
Nicolás Massú Nicolás Alejandro Massú Fried (; born 10 October 1979), nicknamed ''El Vampiro'' (Spanish, 'the vampire'), is a Chilean former professional tennis player. A former world No. 9 in singles, he won the singles and doubles gold medals at the 200 ...
in straight sets. He lost to
Nikolay Davydenko Nikolay Vladimirovich Davydenko ( rus, Никола́й Влади́мирович Давыде́нко ; born 2 June 1981) is a Ukrainian-born Russian former professional tennis player. He achieved a career-high singles ranking of World No. 3 i ...
in the third round in four sets. At Wimbledon, in the third round he defeated 21-year-old
Jesse Levine Jesse Levine (born October 15, 1987) is an American-Canadian former professional tennis player. He achieved his career-high singles rank of world No. 69 on October 1, 2012. Levine represented the United States through 2012, and he represented Can ...
, who had upset
Marat Safin Marat Mubinovich Safin ( rus, Мара́т Муби́нович Са́фин, , mɐˈrat ˈsafʲɪn, Ru-Marat-Safin.ogg; tt-Cyrl, Марат Мөбин улы Сафин; born 27 January 1980) is a Russian retired world No. 1 tennis player an ...
in the first round. ''
The Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News UK, whi ...
'' reviewed Wawrinka's performance in the match by opining that he is "a strange player, clearly talented but short of match fitness and as clumsy on court as Federer is graceful." Wawrinka was defeated by
Andy Murray Sir Andrew Barron Murray (born 15 May 1987) is a British professional tennis player from Scotland. He was ranked world No. 1 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for 41 weeks, and finished as the year-end No. 1 in 2016. Murray h ...
in five sets in the fourth round. The match was also a debut usage of the new roof on
Centre Court Centre Court is a tennis court at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club (also known as the All England Club) and is the main court used in The Championships at Wimbledon, the third annual Grand Slam event of the tennis calendar. It is con ...
and was the latest match at Wimbledon, lasting until 22:37 GMT. Wawrinka played in the Davis Cup tie with Italy and won in his first match against
Andreas Seppi Andreas Seppi (born 21 February 1984) is an Italian former professional tennis player. He reached a career-high singles ranking of world No. 18 on 28 January 2013. He became the first Italian to win a title on all three surfaces. Tennis car ...
in straight sets. Wawrinka started his 2010 season by reaching the final of the Chennai Open, losing to
Marin Čilić Marin Čilić (; born 28 September 1988) is a Croatian professional tennis player. Čilić has won 20 ATP Tour singles titles, including a major at the 2014 US Open. He was also runner-up at the 2017 Wimbledon Championships and the 2018 Austral ...
in two tie-breaks. This was Wawrinka's fifth consecutive loss in an ATP final. He reached the third round at the
Australian Open The Australian Open is a tennis tournament held annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia. The tournament is the first of the four Grand Slam tennis events held each year, preceding the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open. Th ...
, losing to Čilić again. Wawrinka returned to the ATP Tour at the Sony Ericsson Open after his wife gave birth to their daughter. He defeated Kevin Anderson, before losing to
Mikhail Youzhny Mikhail Mikhailovich Youzhny (born 25 June 1982), nicknamed "Misha" and "Colonel" by his fans, is a Russian retired professional tennis player who was ranked inside the top 10 and was the Russian No. 1. He achieved a top-10 ranking by the Assoc ...
in the third round. He started his clay-court season in Casablanca at the 2010 Grand Prix Hassan II. After receiving a first-round bye, he defeated Slovakian qualifier
Martin Kližan Martin Kližan (; born 11 July 1989) is a Slovak former professional tennis player. The winner of the 2006 French Open boys' singles title, Kližan turned pro in 2007 and had a career-high singles ranking of world No. 24, achieved on 27 April ...
in the second round. In the quarterfinals, he defeated wildcard
Reda El Amrani Reda El Amrani (born 19 May 1988) is a professional tennis player from Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to th ...
in straight sets. In the semifinals, he defeated Italian
Potito Starace Potito Starace (; born 14 July 1981) is an Italian retired professional tennis player on the ATP Tour. He achieved a career-high singles ranking of world no. 27 on October 15, 2007. He was a clay court specialist, and was coached by Umberto Ri ...
in three sets to advance to his second ATP final of 2010. In the final, he defeated Romanian
Victor Hănescu Victor Hănescu (born 21 July 1981) is a former Romanian tennis player. His career-high singles ranking was world no. 26. Professional career Hănescu attained a career-high singles ranking of No. 26 on 6 July 2009. In a Davis Cup match again ...
in straight sets to win his second ATP Tournament. With this tournament win, he snapped a five-match losing streak in ATP finals and a 3½-year title drought. It was also the first professional singles final Wawrinka won, as his previous ATP victory occurred due to a retirement. Wawrinka became the 13th seed at the
Monte-Carlo Masters The Monte-Carlo Masters is an annual tennis tournament for male professional players held in Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, France, a commune that borders on Monaco. The event is part of the ATP Tour Masters 1000 on the Association of Tennis Professiona ...
and defeated
Victor Hănescu Victor Hănescu (born 21 July 1981) is a former Romanian tennis player. His career-high singles ranking was world no. 26. Professional career Hănescu attained a career-high singles ranking of No. 26 on 6 July 2009. In a Davis Cup match again ...
in the first round in a rematch of the Casablanca final. He then beat Latvian
Ernests Gulbis Ernests Gulbis (, born 30 August 1988, nicknamed "Lord", "The Gull" or "Ernie") is a Latvian professional tennis player. In 2008, Gulbis won his first ATP Tour doubles title at the U.S. Men's Clay Court Championships, teaming with Rainer Schütt ...
to advance to the third round. He was defeated by
Novak Djokovic Novak Djokovic ( sr-Cyrl, Новак Ђоковић, translit=Novak Đoković, ; born 22 May 1987) is a Serbian professional tennis player. He has been ranked world No. 1 for a record total 373 weeks, and has finished as the year-end No. 1 ...
. Wawrinka reached the quarterfinals in Rome, losing to
Rafael Nadal Rafael Nadal Parera (, ; born 3 June 1986) is a Spanish professional tennis player. He is currently ranked world No. 2 in singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP). He has been ranked List of ATP number 1 ranked singles tennis ...
, and the semifinals in Belgrade, losing to
John Isner John Robert Isner (born April 26, 1985) is an American professional tennis player. He has been ranked as high as world No. 8 in singles and No. 14 in doubles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP). Considered one of the best servers e ...
. At the
French Open The French Open (french: Internationaux de France de tennis), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a major tennis tournament held over two weeks at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France, beginning in late May each year. The tournament and ven ...
, where he was the 20th seed, he reached the fourth round without dropping a set, defeating Jan Hájek in the first round. In the second round, he defeated German Andreas Beck, and in the third round, he beat Italian
Fabio Fognini Fabio Fognini (; born 24 May 1987) is an Italian professional tennis player. He has a career-high ranking of world No. 9 achieved on 15 July 2019. He is currently ranked (July 2022) in 64th place by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) ...
, before losing to
Roger Federer Roger Federer (; born 8 August 1981) is a Swiss former professional tennis player. He was ranked List of ATP number 1 ranked singles tennis players#Weeks at No. 1, world No. 1 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for 310 weeks, in ...
in the fourth round. After an unsuccessful grass season, where he lost in the first round of
Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * ...
, Wawrinka separated from his coach since childhood and hired
Peter Lundgren Peter Lundgren (born 29 January 1965) is a former professional male tennis player and tennis coach from Sweden. He preferred playing indoors, hardcourt and on grass to clay. Playing career Lundgren was one of the second generation of Swedish ...
, former coach of
Marat Safin Marat Mubinovich Safin ( rus, Мара́т Муби́нович Са́фин, , mɐˈrat ˈsafʲɪn, Ru-Marat-Safin.ogg; tt-Cyrl, Марат Мөбин улы Сафин; born 27 January 1980) is a Russian retired world No. 1 tennis player an ...
and Federer. The partnership with Lundgren showed its benefits in the US Open, where Wawrinka reached the quarterfinals, beating fourth seed
Andy Murray Sir Andrew Barron Murray (born 15 May 1987) is a British professional tennis player from Scotland. He was ranked world No. 1 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for 41 weeks, and finished as the year-end No. 1 in 2016. Murray h ...
along the way. Wawrinka started off 2011 by defeating No. 6
Tomáš Berdych Tomáš Berdych (; born 17 September 1985) is a Czech former professional tennis player. His most notable achievement was reaching the final of the 2010 Wimbledon Championships, causing consecutive upsets by defeating top seed and six-time champ ...
along the way to claiming the Chennai Open crown. Wawrinka beat
Xavier Malisse Xavier Malisse (born 19 July 1980) is a former Belgian professional tennis player. Born in the north-western Flemish city of Kortrijk and nicknamed ''X-Man'', he is one of only two Belgian men (the other being David Goffin) to have been ranked i ...
in the final in three sets. He advanced to the quarterfinals of the 2011 Australian Open, after defeating
Andy Roddick Andrew Stephen Roddick (born 30 August 1982) is an American former world No. 1 tennis player. He is a major champion, having won the 2003 US Open. Roddick reached four other major finals (Wimbledon in 2004, 2005, and 2009, and the US Open ...
in three sets to set up an all-Swiss quarterfinal with
Roger Federer Roger Federer (; born 8 August 1981) is a Swiss former professional tennis player. He was ranked List of ATP number 1 ranked singles tennis players#Weeks at No. 1, world No. 1 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for 310 weeks, in ...
, which he lost in straight sets. He also came back from two sets and a break down to defeat
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (; born 17 April 1985) is a French former professional tennis player. He was ranked as high as world No. 5 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), which he achieved in February 2012. Tsonga won 18 singles titles on th ...
in the third round of the
French Open The French Open (french: Internationaux de France de tennis), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a major tennis tournament held over two weeks at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France, beginning in late May each year. The tournament and ven ...
, before being defeated by Federer once more. Wawrinka was defeated by
Simone Bolelli Simone Bolelli (; born 8 October 1985) is an Italian professional tennis player. Bolelli is a Grand Slam champion, having won the 2015 Australian Open doubles event with Fabio Fognini, together becoming the first all-Italian men's pair to win a ...
in the second round of
Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * ...
and Donald Young at the same stage of the US Open. In September, Wawrinka announced that he had parted ways with Lundgren. He played the rest of the season without a coach. At the Swiss Indoors tournament, Wawrinka made it to the semifinals, after defeating
Florian Mayer Florian Mayer (; born 5 October 1983) is a German former professional tennis player. Mayer reached his career-high singles ranking of world No. 18 in June 2011. Also in 2011, Mayer won his first ATP title after four previous defeats in ATP fin ...
in the quarterfinals. In an all-Swiss semifinal, he was defeated by
Roger Federer Roger Federer (; born 8 August 1981) is a Swiss former professional tennis player. He was ranked List of ATP number 1 ranked singles tennis players#Weeks at No. 1, world No. 1 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for 310 weeks, in ...
in straight sets. Wawrinka started the season in Chennai, where he made the quarterfinals, before being defeated by
Go Soeda is a former professional Japanese tennis player. He started playing tennis at the age of four and turned professional in April 2003. He has won 18 singles titles on the ATP Challenger Tour, and achieved a career-high singles ranking of w ...
. At the
Australian Open The Australian Open is a tennis tournament held annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia. The tournament is the first of the four Grand Slam tennis events held each year, preceding the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open. Th ...
, he made it to the third round, defeating
Benoît Paire Benoît Paire (; born 8 May 1989) is a French professional tennis player. His best result in a Grand Slam has been reaching the fourth round, which he has achieved on four occasions. He has won three singles titles, at the 2015 Swedish Open, t ...
and
Marcos Baghdatis Marcos Baghdatis ( el, Μάρκος Παγδατής, ar, ماركوس بغداتيس; ; born 17 June 1985) is a Cypriot former professional tennis player. He was the runner-up at the 2006 Australian Open and a semifinalist at the 2006 Wimble ...
, before being eliminated by
Nicolás Almagro Nicolás Almagro Sánchez (; born 21 August 1985 in Murcia, Spain) is a Spanish former professional tennis player. He reached the quarterfinals of the French Open in 2008, 2010 and 2012 (losing each time to Rafael Nadal, the eventual ch ...
. In his Davis Cup tie against
Mardy Fish Mardy Simpson Fish (born December 9, 1981) is an American former professional tennis player. He was a hardcourt specialist. He is one of several American tennis players who rose to prominence in the early 2000s.Fish won six tournaments on the mai ...
in February, he lost in five sets. Later in February, he traveled to Buenos Aires and Acapulco, where he made to the semifinals, before losing again to Almagro and
Fernando Verdasco Fernando Verdasco Carmona (; born 15 November 1983) is a Spanish professional tennis player. His career-high singles ranking is world No. 7, achieved in April 2009. His best performance in a Grand Slam was making the semifinals of the 2009 ...
, respectively. In Monte Carlo, he defeated three Spaniards,
Feliciano López Feliciano López Díaz-Guerra (; born 20 September 1981) is a Spanish professional tennis player. He achieved his career-high singles ranking of world No. 12 in March 2015 and doubles ranking of world No. 9 in November 2016.In 2005, López was t ...
,
Pablo Andújar Pablo Andújar Alba (; born 23 January 1986) is a Spanish professional tennis player. Andújar has won four ATP Tour singles titles and reached a career-high singles ranking of world No. 32 in July 2015. His best results are reaching the fourth ...
, and Almagro, making it to the quarterfinals before losing to another Spaniard, No. 2
Rafael Nadal Rafael Nadal Parera (, ; born 3 June 1986) is a Spanish professional tennis player. He is currently ranked world No. 2 in singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP). He has been ranked List of ATP number 1 ranked singles tennis ...
, the eventual champion. In doubles, he teamed with
Victor Troicki Viktor Troicki ( sr-Cyrl, Виктор Троицки, ; born 10 February 1986) is a Serbian former professional tennis player. He won his first ATP singles title at the 2010 Kremlin Cup, and his second and third ATP singles titles at the 2015 a ...
, and they made it to the quarterfinals. In Estoril, he made it to the semifinals, but was defeated by
Juan Martín del Potro Juan Martín del Potro () (born 23 September 1988) is an Argentine inactive professional tennis player. Del Potro's biggest achievement is a major title: the 2009 US Open, where he defeated Rafael Nadal in the semifinals and the five-time defen ...
. Wawrinka made the fourth round of the
French Open The French Open (french: Internationaux de France de tennis), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a major tennis tournament held over two weeks at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France, beginning in late May each year. The tournament and ven ...
after defeating
Flavio Cipolla Flavio Cipolla (born 20 October 1983) is a former professional tennis player on the ATP Tour from Italy. He reached the second round at the French Open of 2007, where he lost to Rafael Nadal. He reached the 3rd round of the 2008 US Open. His car ...
,
Andújar Andújar () is a Spanish municipality of 38,539 people (2005) in the province of Jaén, in Andalusia. The municipality is divided by the Guadalquivir River. The northern part of the municipality is where the Natural Park of the Sierra de Andú ...
, and
Gilles Simon Gilles Simon (; born 27 December 1984) is a French former professional tennis player. He had a career-high ATP singles ranking of world No. 6 attained on 5 January 2009. He turned professional in 2002 and won 14 singles titles on the ATP Tour. ...
. He was defeated by
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (; born 17 April 1985) is a French former professional tennis player. He was ranked as high as world No. 5 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), which he achieved in February 2012. Tsonga won 18 singles titles on th ...
in the fourth round, once again coming from two sets down to take the match into a fifth set and recovering a 4–1 deficit in the decider before Tsonga finally prevailed. Wawrinka then had a series of first-round exits at
Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * ...
, Gstaad, and in the Summer Olympics, where he lost to the eventual gold medallist
Andy Murray Sir Andrew Barron Murray (born 15 May 1987) is a British professional tennis player from Scotland. He was ranked world No. 1 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for 41 weeks, and finished as the year-end No. 1 in 2016. Murray h ...
. He was Team Switzerland national
flag bearer A standard-bearer, also known as a flag-bearer is a person (soldier or civilian) who bears an emblem known as a standard or military colours, i.e. either a type of flag or an inflexible but mobile image, which is used (and often honoured) as a f ...
at the
Parade of Nations The Olympic Games ceremonies of the Ancient Olympic Games were an integral part of these Games; the modern Olympic games have opening, closing, and medal ceremonies. Some of the elements of the modern ceremonies date back to the Ancient Games from ...
. He teamed with
Roger Federer Roger Federer (; born 8 August 1981) is a Swiss former professional tennis player. He was ranked List of ATP number 1 ranked singles tennis players#Weeks at No. 1, world No. 1 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for 310 weeks, in ...
again in doubles at the Olympics, but they were eliminated in the second round. He made the semifinals of the Masters 1000 event in
Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...
, before he was defeated by Federer, the eventual champion. Wawrinka again also played doubles with
Jarkko Nieminen Jarkko Kalervo Nieminen (born 23 July 1981) is a Finnish former professional tennis player. His highest ranking of world No. 13, achieved in July 2006, is a Finnish record. He has won two ATP singles titles and five doubles titles in his caree ...
, and they were eliminated in the second round. At the US Open, Wawrinka reached the fourth round, but was forced to retire in his match against second seed
Novak Djokovic Novak Djokovic ( sr-Cyrl, Новак Ђоковић, translit=Novak Đoković, ; born 22 May 1987) is a Serbian professional tennis player. He has been ranked world No. 1 for a record total 373 weeks, and has finished as the year-end No. 1 ...
due to illness.


2013: Breakthrough

Wawrinka teamed with Frenchman
Benoît Paire Benoît Paire (; born 8 May 1989) is a French professional tennis player. His best result in a Grand Slam has been reaching the fourth round, which he has achieved on four occasions. He has won three singles titles, at the 2015 Swedish Open, t ...
to win the doubles title at the
Chennai Open Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...
against the German team of
Andre Begemann Andre Begemann (born 12 July 1984) is a German inactive professional tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player ...
and
Martin Emmrich Martin Emmrich (born 17 December 1984) is a German retired professional tennis player who specialized in doubles, participating primarily in the ATP World Tour. On 12 October 2009, he reached his highest ATP singles ranking of 604 whilst his h ...
. At the
Australian Open The Australian Open is a tennis tournament held annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia. The tournament is the first of the four Grand Slam tennis events held each year, preceding the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open. Th ...
, he made it to the fourth round. He lost a gruelling five-set thriller against
Novak Djokovic Novak Djokovic ( sr-Cyrl, Новак Ђоковић, translit=Novak Đoković, ; born 22 May 1987) is a Serbian professional tennis player. He has been ranked world No. 1 for a record total 373 weeks, and has finished as the year-end No. 1 ...
which lasted just over five hours, finally losing in the 22nd game of the fifth set. "It definitely ranks right at the top", said Djokovic, after his victory over the Swiss. "One of the longest, most interesting, and most exciting matches I have played in my career." In the first round of the
Davis Cup The Davis Cup is the premier international team event in men's tennis. It is run by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) and is contested annually between teams from competing countries in a knock-out format. It is described by the organis ...
on 2 February 2013, he played the longest ATP doubles match in history. He and
Marco Chiudinelli Marco Chiudinelli (born 10 September 1981) is a retired tennis player from Switzerland. A member of Switzerland's winning 2014 Davis Cup squad, he reached his highest singles ranking of 52 in February 2010 during a career that was often hindere ...
were defeated by
Lukáš Rosol Lukáš Rosol (; born 24 July 1985) is a Czech professional tennis player. He competes on the ATP Challenger Tour and the ATP Tour, both in singles and doubles. Rosol was coached by former Czech player, 1999 US Open quarterfinalist Ctislav Dosed ...
and
Tomáš Berdych Tomáš Berdych (; born 17 September 1985) is a Czech former professional tennis player. His most notable achievement was reaching the final of the 2010 Wimbledon Championships, causing consecutive upsets by defeating top seed and six-time champ ...
of the
Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...
in 7 hours and 2 minutes, including a 46-game-long final set. The match was the second-longest ATP match ever (singles and doubles combined). Wawrinka made it to the final of the Copa Claro in Buenos Aires, losing to
David Ferrer David Ferrer Ern (; ; born 2 April 1982) is a Spanish former professional tennis player. A three-time Davis Cup champion with Spain Davis Cup team, Spain, Ferrer has won tournaments at all levels on the ATP Tour (ATP Tour 250, ATP 250, ATP Tour ...
in that final. Wawrinka won the fourth title of his career at the
Portugal Open The Portugal Open (formerly named Estoril Open) was an ATP and WTA clay court tennis tournament in Portugal. The event took place at the sports complex of Jamor in Oeiras, of which Estoril Court Central is the most prominent show court. In 20 ...
, where he defeated the top seed and No. 4
David Ferrer David Ferrer Ern (; ; born 2 April 1982) is a Spanish former professional tennis player. A three-time Davis Cup champion with Spain Davis Cup team, Spain, Ferrer has won tournaments at all levels on the ATP Tour (ATP Tour 250, ATP 250, ATP Tour ...
. This was his first title since January 2011. In the Madrid Masters, Wawrinka's run of success continued, with a three-set win over
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (; born 17 April 1985) is a French former professional tennis player. He was ranked as high as world No. 5 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), which he achieved in February 2012. Tsonga won 18 singles titles on th ...
in the quarterfinals. The following day, he defeated
Tomáš Berdych Tomáš Berdych (; born 17 September 1985) is a Czech former professional tennis player. His most notable achievement was reaching the final of the 2010 Wimbledon Championships, causing consecutive upsets by defeating top seed and six-time champ ...
, also in three sets, to advance to his second Masters 1000 final against
Rafael Nadal Rafael Nadal Parera (, ; born 3 June 1986) is a Spanish professional tennis player. He is currently ranked world No. 2 in singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP). He has been ranked List of ATP number 1 ranked singles tennis ...
. With this victory, he also re-entered the Top 10 at No. 10, and stayed inside the Top 10 till 2018. He lost the final in straight sets. He made it to the quarterfinals of the
French Open The French Open (french: Internationaux de France de tennis), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a major tennis tournament held over two weeks at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France, beginning in late May each year. The tournament and ven ...
for the first time after recovering from two sets down to beat
Richard Gasquet Richard Gabriel Cyr Gasquet (; born 18 June 1986) is a French professional tennis player. His career-high ATP singles ranking is world No. 7, attained on 9 July 2007. He has won a total of 15 singles titles on the ATP Tour. His best performances ...
in the fourth round, but subsequently lost to defending and seven-time champion
Rafael Nadal Rafael Nadal Parera (, ; born 3 June 1986) is a Spanish professional tennis player. He is currently ranked world No. 2 in singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP). He has been ranked List of ATP number 1 ranked singles tennis ...
in straight sets. He started the grass-court season at the
Topshelf Open The Rosmalen Grass Court Championships, branded by its sponsored name as the :nl:Libéma, Libéma Open since 2018, (formerly known as the Continental Grass Court Championships, Heineken Trophy, Ordina Open, UNICEF Open, Topshelf Open and RICOH Ope ...
in
's-Hertogenbosch s-Hertogenbosch (), colloquially known as Den Bosch (), is a city and municipality in the Netherlands with a population of 157,486. It is the capital of the province of North Brabant and its fourth largest by population. The city is south of th ...
and made it to the final, where he lost to grass-court specialist
Nicolas Mahut Nicolas Pierre Armand Mahut (; born 21 January 1982) is a French professional tennis player who is a former world No. 1 in doubles. He is a five-time Grand Slam champion in doubles, having completed the career Grand Slam with victories at the ...
. At
Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * ...
, he lost in the first round to
Lleyton Hewitt Lleyton Glynn Hewitt (born 24 February 1981) is an Australian former world No. 1 tennis player. He is the most recent Australian man to win a major singles title, with two at the 2001 US Open and 2002 Wimbledon Championships. In November 200 ...
. In the US Open, Wawrinka reached his first Grand Slam semifinal, losing to top seed
Novak Djokovic Novak Djokovic ( sr-Cyrl, Новак Ђоковић, translit=Novak Đoković, ; born 22 May 1987) is a Serbian professional tennis player. He has been ranked world No. 1 for a record total 373 weeks, and has finished as the year-end No. 1 ...
, again in five tightly contested sets. Previously he had defeated No. 5
Tomáš Berdych Tomáš Berdych (; born 17 September 1985) is a Czech former professional tennis player. His most notable achievement was reaching the final of the 2010 Wimbledon Championships, causing consecutive upsets by defeating top seed and six-time champ ...
in four sets in the fourth round and No. 3 and defending champion
Andy Murray Sir Andrew Barron Murray (born 15 May 1987) is a British professional tennis player from Scotland. He was ranked world No. 1 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for 41 weeks, and finished as the year-end No. 1 in 2016. Murray h ...
in straight sets in the quarterfinals. After his Grand Slam breakthrough, Wawrinka continued to display solid form, reaching the semifinals in
Kuala Lumpur , anthem = '' Maju dan Sejahtera'' , image_map = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Malaysia#Southeast Asia#Asia , pushpin_map_caption = , coordinates = , su ...
, where he lost to
Julien Benneteau Julien Henry Guy Benneteau-Desgrois (; born 20 December 1981) is a French retired professional tennis player. His career-high singles ranking is ATP world no. 25, which he reached in November 2014. He formerly resided in Boulogne-Billancourt and ...
, and quarterfinals of
Masters 1000 The ATP Masters 1000 tournaments (previously known as ATP Masters Series) is an annual series of nine tennis tournaments featuring the top-ranked players on the ATP Tour. The series' events have been held in Europe and North America since the ...
tournaments in Shanghai and Paris, losing to
Rafael Nadal Rafael Nadal Parera (, ; born 3 June 1986) is a Spanish professional tennis player. He is currently ranked world No. 2 in singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP). He has been ranked List of ATP number 1 ranked singles tennis ...
and
Novak Djokovic Novak Djokovic ( sr-Cyrl, Новак Ђоковић, translit=Novak Đoković, ; born 22 May 1987) is a Serbian professional tennis player. He has been ranked world No. 1 for a record total 373 weeks, and has finished as the year-end No. 1 ...
, respectively. Wawrinka went to the
ATP World Tour Finals The ATP Finals is the season-ending championship of the ATP Tour. It is the most significant event in the annual ATP calendar after the four majors as it features the top-eight singles players and top-eight doubles teams based on their results th ...
for the first time in his career. He made an impact on the tournament, beating
Tomáš Berdych Tomáš Berdych (; born 17 September 1985) is a Czech former professional tennis player. His most notable achievement was reaching the final of the 2010 Wimbledon Championships, causing consecutive upsets by defeating top seed and six-time champ ...
and
David Ferrer David Ferrer Ern (; ; born 2 April 1982) is a Spanish former professional tennis player. A three-time Davis Cup champion with Spain Davis Cup team, Spain, Ferrer has won tournaments at all levels on the ATP Tour (ATP Tour 250, ATP 250, ATP Tour ...
in round-robin matches. Although he lost to
Rafael Nadal Rafael Nadal Parera (, ; born 3 June 1986) is a Spanish professional tennis player. He is currently ranked world No. 2 in singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP). He has been ranked List of ATP number 1 ranked singles tennis ...
in straight sets for the twelfth time in his career, both sets were finished in tight tiebreaks, and the Swiss actually won more points in the match. Wawrinka advanced in second place to the semifinals, where he met
Novak Djokovic Novak Djokovic ( sr-Cyrl, Новак Ђоковић, translit=Novak Đoković, ; born 22 May 1987) is a Serbian professional tennis player. He has been ranked world No. 1 for a record total 373 weeks, and has finished as the year-end No. 1 ...
and lost to him for the fourth time that year.


2014: First Grand Slam, Masters and Davis Cup titles, world No. 3

Wawrinka began his ninth season on the
ATP World Tour The ATP Tour is a worldwide top-tier tennis tour for men organized by the Association of Tennis Professionals. The second-tier tour is the ATP Challenger Tour and the third-tier is the ITF Men's World Tennis Tour. The equivalent women's organis ...
with a win at the
Chennai Open Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...
in India, winning this tournament for the second time in his career, defeating
Édouard Roger-Vasselin Édouard Roger-Vasselin (; born 28 November 1983) is a French professional tennis player who primarily specialises in doubles. He won his first Grand Slam title at the 2014 French Open, winning the men's doubles partnering Julien Benneteau, a ...
in the final in straight sets. At the
Australian Open The Australian Open is a tennis tournament held annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia. The tournament is the first of the four Grand Slam tennis events held each year, preceding the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open. Th ...
, Wawrinka beat
Andrey Golubev Andrey Golubev ( rus, Андре́й Алекса́ндрович Го́лубев; born July 22, 1987) is a Kazakh professional tennis player. His career-high singles ranking is world No. 33, achieved on 4 October 2010 and his doubles ranking i ...
and
Alejandro Falla Alejandro Falla Ramírez (; born 14 November 1983) is a retired professional male tennis player from Colombia. The left-hander turned pro in 2000 and achieved a career-high singles ranking of World No. 48 in July 2012. At the 2006 Wimbledon t ...
in the first two rounds, then had a walkover when
Vasek Pospisil Vasek Pospisil ( ; cs, Vašek Pospíšil, ; known in born June 23, 1990) is a Canadian professional tennis player. Pospisil has a career-high world singles ranking of No. 25, and No. 4 in doubles. Along with partner Jack Sock, he won the 2014 ...
pulled out of their third-round match, followed by a straight-set win over
Tommy Robredo Tomás Robredo Garcés, known as Tommy Robredo (, ; born 1 May 1982), is a Spanish former professional tennis player. His career-high singles ranking was world No. 5, which he reached in August 2006 as a result of winning the Hamburg Masters ea ...
. Wawrinka's quarterfinal opponent was
Novak Djokovic Novak Djokovic ( sr-Cyrl, Новак Ђоковић, translit=Novak Đoković, ; born 22 May 1987) is a Serbian professional tennis player. He has been ranked world No. 1 for a record total 373 weeks, and has finished as the year-end No. 1 ...
, and this time Wawrinka won in five sets, taking the deciding fifth set 9–7 after being a break down. The victory ended a 14-match losing streak against the three-time reigning champion. He then faced off against another first-time Australian Open semifinalist,
Tomáš Berdych Tomáš Berdych (; born 17 September 1985) is a Czech former professional tennis player. His most notable achievement was reaching the final of the 2010 Wimbledon Championships, causing consecutive upsets by defeating top seed and six-time champ ...
, winning the match in four tight sets (including three tiebreaks). In the ensuing final, he defeated No. 1
Rafael Nadal Rafael Nadal Parera (, ; born 3 June 1986) is a Spanish professional tennis player. He is currently ranked world No. 2 in singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP). He has been ranked List of ATP number 1 ranked singles tennis ...
in four sets, thus denying Nadal's attempt for the distinction of being the only active men's tennis player to hold at least two titles at each of the four Grand Slam tournaments (an achievement that was ultimately attained by Djokovic in the
2021 French Open The 2021 French Open was a major level tennis tournament played on outdoor clay courts. It was held at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France, from 30 May to 13 June 2021, comprising singles, doubles and mixed doubles play. The qualifiers too ...
and Nadal himself in the
2022 Australian Open The 2022 Australian Open was a Grand Slam tennis tournament that took place at Melbourne Park, Australia from 17 to 30 January 2022. It was the 110th edition of the Australian Open, the 54th in the Open Era, and the first Grand Slam of the ye ...
). The victory was his first win over Nadal in 13 attempts (having never won a set against him in their previous 12 meetings), and also made him the first man since
Sergi Bruguera Sergi Bruguera i Torner (; born 16 January 1971) is a former professional tennis player from Spain. He won consecutive men's singles titles at the French Open in 1993 and 1994, a silver medal at the 1996 Olympic Games in men's singles and reac ...
in 1993 to beat both of the top two seeds en route to a Grand Slam title. (Bruguera defeated No. 1
Pete Sampras Petros "Pete" Sampras ( el, Πέτρος Σάμπρας; born August 12, 1971) is an American former world No. 1 tennis player. His professional career began in 1988 and ended at the 2002 US Open, which he won, defeating longtime rival Andre ...
and No. 2
Jim Courier James Spencer "Jim" Courier (born August 17, 1970) is an American former world No. 1 tennis player. He won four major singles titles, two at the French Open and two at the Australian Open. He was the youngest man to reach the singles finals ...
at the 1993 French Open). This was also only the second time since 2005 that a player outside of the 'Big Four' (Federer, Nadal, Djokovic, and Murray) had won a Grand Slam title, and the first since
Juan Martín del Potro Juan Martín del Potro () (born 23 September 1988) is an Argentine inactive professional tennis player. Del Potro's biggest achievement is a major title: the 2009 US Open, where he defeated Rafael Nadal in the semifinals and the five-time defen ...
won the US Open in 2009. In addition, Wawrinka became the first player to defeat both Nadal and Djokovic in a single Grand Slam tournament. He is also the second Swiss man to win a Grand Slam singles title after Federer. Due to his championship victory at the
Australian Open The Australian Open is a tennis tournament held annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia. The tournament is the first of the four Grand Slam tennis events held each year, preceding the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open. Th ...
, Wawrinka for the first time in his career reached the top five, becoming No. 3, and the top-ranked Swiss player in the world ahead of Federer for the first time. Playing for Switzerland in the first round of the
Davis Cup The Davis Cup is the premier international team event in men's tennis. It is run by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) and is contested annually between teams from competing countries in a knock-out format. It is described by the organis ...
against Serbia, he defeated
Dušan Lajović Dušan Lajović ( sr-cyrl, Душан Лајовић; born 30 June 1990) is a Serbian professional tennis player. Lajović has won one singles and two doubles titles on the ATP Tour. On 29 April 2019, Lajović reached his career-high singles rank ...
in four sets in the second rubber. Switzerland went on to win the tie 3–2 (after an unassailable 3–0 lead) to reach their first Davis Cup quarterfinal since 2004. After a one-month break, he next played at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells as the third seed. In his opening round (after receiving a first-round bye due to his seeding), he overcame
Ivo Karlović Ivo Karlović (; born 28 February 1979) is a former Croatian professional tennis player. His height of 211 cm (6 ft 11 in) makes him the joint tallest ranked tennis player in history, along with Reilly Opelka. He has won eight ATP sin ...
in straight sets. In the third round, he defeated
Andreas Seppi Andreas Seppi (born 21 February 1984) is an Italian former professional tennis player. He reached a career-high singles ranking of world No. 18 on 28 January 2013. He became the first Italian to win a title on all three surfaces. Tennis car ...
dropping only two games. In the fourth round, his 13-match winning streak from the start of the season came to an end against Kevin Anderson. At the
Miami Masters The Miami Open (also known as the Miami Masters, and currently branded as the Miami Open presented by Itaú for sponsorship reasons) is a tennis tournament held at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida. It is part of the men's ATP Tour Mas ...
, he made it to the fourth round after defeating
Daniel Gimeno Traver Daniel Gimeno Traver (; born 7 August 1985) is a professional Spanish tennis player who turned pro in 2004, when he was eighteen years old. He reached the final of Casablanca in 2015 and has won 12 Challenger Tour events, achieving a career- ...
and
Édouard Roger-Vasselin Édouard Roger-Vasselin (; born 28 November 1983) is a French professional tennis player who primarily specialises in doubles. He won his first Grand Slam title at the 2014 French Open, winning the men's doubles partnering Julien Benneteau, a ...
, before losing to an in-form
Alexandr Dolgopolov Alexandr Oleksandrovych Dolgopolov (born 7 November 1988), formerly known as Oleksandr Dolgopolov Jr., is a Ukrainian retired professional tennis player. He changed his forename spelling to the current form in May 2010. Dolgopolov reached the ...
. Wawrinka returned to Switzerland's Davis Cup team for their quarterfinal against Kazakhstan. Wawrinka was beaten in his first match by
Andrey Golubev Andrey Golubev ( rus, Андре́й Алекса́ндрович Го́лубев; born July 22, 1987) is a Kazakh professional tennis player. His career-high singles ranking is world No. 33, achieved on 4 October 2010 and his doubles ranking i ...
, then (after Federer had levelled the tie by beating
Mikhail Kukushkin Mikhail Aleksandrovich Kukushkin (russian: link=no, Михаил Александрович Кукушкин; born 26 December 1987) is a Russian-born Kazakhstani professional tennis player. Before 2008, he played for his country of birth, Russ ...
) he and Federer lost their doubles match to Golubev and Aleksandr Nedovesov. However, Wawrinka then came from a set down to beat Kukushkin and level the match again. Federer won the deciding rubber to send Switzerland to the semifinals, where they would play Italy. At the
Monte-Carlo Masters The Monte-Carlo Masters is an annual tennis tournament for male professional players held in Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, France, a commune that borders on Monaco. The event is part of the ATP Tour Masters 1000 on the Association of Tennis Professiona ...
, Wawrinka crushed
Marin Čilić Marin Čilić (; born 28 September 1988) is a Croatian professional tennis player. Čilić has won 20 ATP Tour singles titles, including a major at the 2014 US Open. He was also runner-up at the 2017 Wimbledon Championships and the 2018 Austral ...
in the second round, losing only two games in the process. He then received a walkover in the third round to
Nicolás Almagro Nicolás Almagro Sánchez (; born 21 August 1985 in Murcia, Spain) is a Spanish former professional tennis player. He reached the quarterfinals of the French Open in 2008, 2010 and 2012 (losing each time to Rafael Nadal, the eventual ch ...
. In the quarterfinal, Wawrinka defeated
Milos Raonic Milos Raonic (; sr, Милош Раонић, Miloš Raonić, ; born December 27, 1990) is a Canadian inactive professional tennis player. He has been ranked as high as world No. 3 in singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), wh ...
in straight sets to secure his second semifinal appearance in the principality. Wawrinka defeated
David Ferrer David Ferrer Ern (; ; born 2 April 1982) is a Spanish former professional tennis player. A three-time Davis Cup champion with Spain Davis Cup team, Spain, Ferrer has won tournaments at all levels on the ATP Tour (ATP Tour 250, ATP 250, ATP Tour ...
in the semifinals to become one of the few players to reach the finals of all 3 Masters tournament on clay. The stage was set for the first all-Swiss final in fourteen years, as he would take on his friend
Roger Federer Roger Federer (; born 8 August 1981) is a Swiss former professional tennis player. He was ranked List of ATP number 1 ranked singles tennis players#Weeks at No. 1, world No. 1 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for 310 weeks, in ...
. In the first set, Federer secured an early break and prevented any chances of Wawrinka breaking and closed out the opener. However, Wawrinka fought back to take a close second set in a tiebreak, and after that, Wawrinka gained the momentum. He did not relinquish his advantage, winning his first Masters 1000 title on his third attempt. In doing so, Wawrinka took over the top spot in the 'Race to London'. Thus far, Wawrinka had defeated Djokovic, Nadal, and Federer that season, whom he had a 2–15, 0–12, and 1–13 record respectively, coming into the 2014 season. However, Wawrinka had less success in his next two tournaments, losing in the second round in Madrid to
Dominic Thiem Dominic Thiem (; born 3 September 1993) is an Austrian professional tennis player. He has been ranked as high as world No. 3 in singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals, which he first achieved in March 2020. He is the second-highest r ...
and the third round of Rome to
Tommy Haas Thomas Mario Haas (; born 3 April 1978) is a German former professional tennis player. He competed on the ATP Tour from 1996 to 2017. After breaking into the world top 100 in 1997, and reaching a career-high singles ranking of world No. 2 in May ...
. Wawinka then suffered a first-round defeat to
Guillermo García López Guillermo García López (, born 4 June 1983) is a Spanish former professional tennis player. He has won five singles titles and achieved a career-high singles ranking of world No. 23 in February 2011. As of 2021, he has collected thirteen w ...
in the
French Open The French Open (french: Internationaux de France de tennis), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a major tennis tournament held over two weeks at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France, beginning in late May each year. The tournament and ven ...
. Later that month, Wawrinka participated in the
Aegon Championships The Queen's Club Championships is an annual tournament for male tennis players, held on grass courts at the Queen's Club in West Kensington, London. The event is part of the ATP Tour 500 series on the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) ...
, knocking out
Marcos Baghdatis Marcos Baghdatis ( el, Μάρκος Παγδατής, ar, ماركوس بغداتيس; ; born 17 June 1985) is a Cypriot former professional tennis player. He was the runner-up at the 2006 Australian Open and a semifinalist at the 2006 Wimble ...
,
Sam Querrey Samuel Austin Querrey (; born October 7, 1987) is an American former professional tennis player. He reached a career-high singles ranking of world No. 11 achieved on February 26, 2018, and won ten ATP singles titles. Known for his powerful serve ...
, and
Marinko Matosevic Marinko Matosevic ( hr, Marinko Matošević, ; born 8 August 1985) is a retired Australian professional tennis player. His career-high singles ranking is World No. 39, which he achieved in February 2013. Matosevic defeated top players including ...
without dropping a set, before losing to eventual champion
Grigor Dimitrov Grigor Dimitrov ( bg, Григор Димитров, ; born 16 May 1991) is a Bulgarian professional tennis player. He has been ranked as high as world No. 3 in singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), which he first achieved on ...
in the semifinals. Wawrinka was seeded fifth for
Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * ...
due to the tournament's seeding process being a combination of world ranking and recent grass court form, meaning Wawrinka (who had lost in the first round the previous two years) was seeded lower than No. 5
Andy Murray Sir Andrew Barron Murray (born 15 May 1987) is a British professional tennis player from Scotland. He was ranked world No. 1 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for 41 weeks, and finished as the year-end No. 1 in 2016. Murray h ...
and No. 4
Roger Federer Roger Federer (; born 8 August 1981) is a Swiss former professional tennis player. He was ranked List of ATP number 1 ranked singles tennis players#Weeks at No. 1, world No. 1 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for 310 weeks, in ...
as they had won the title the previous two seasons. Wawrinka proceeded to have his best-ever run at the tournament, reaching the quarterfinals for the first time, dropping just one set in the process. He faced Federer in the first all-Swiss men's quarterfinal in Wimbledon history, losing in four close sets. Wawrinka was seeded third for the US Open due to Nadal's withdrawal. He reached his fifth Grand Slam quarterfinal from the last seven tournaments, defeating
Tommy Robredo Tomás Robredo Garcés, known as Tommy Robredo (, ; born 1 May 1982), is a Spanish former professional tennis player. His career-high singles ranking was world No. 5, which he reached in August 2006 as a result of winning the Hamburg Masters ea ...
in four sets in the fourth round, having survived set points in the third-set tiebreaker. He was eventually beaten by finalist
Kei Nishikori is an inactive Japanese professional tennis player. He is the second male Japanese player to have been ranked in the top 5 in singles (after Jiro Sato), and the only one to do so in the Open Era. Nishikori first reached his career-high singles ...
in five sets. Wawrinka lost in early-round matches at three consecutive tournaments in October. At the
Japan Open Tennis Championships The Japan Open (currently sponsored by Rakuten) is a men's tennis tournament held in Ariake Tennis Forest Park with its center court Ariake Coliseum, located in Koto, Tokyo, Japan. It was originally founded in 1915 as the Japan International ...
, he was seeded first, but was defeated in the first round in straight sets by
Tatsuma Ito , fullname = Tatsuma Ito , country = , residence = , birth_date = , birth_place = Inabe, Japan , height = , turnedpro = December 2006 , plays = Right-handed (two-handed backhand) , coach = Alexander Waske , careerprizemoney = $1,735,524. , si ...
of Japan, then ranked No. 103 on the ATP tour. The following week at the
Shanghai Rolex Masters The Shanghai Masters ( zh, , s=上海大师赛, also known as Shanghai Rolex Masters for sponsorship reasons) is a professional men's tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts, and held annually in early October at the Qizhong Forest Sports ...
tournament, he was seeded fourth, but was defeated in three sets by unseeded
Gilles Simon Gilles Simon (; born 27 December 1984) is a French former professional tennis player. He had a career-high ATP singles ranking of world No. 6 attained on 5 January 2009. He turned professional in 2002 and won 14 singles titles on the ATP Tour. ...
in the second round, after having had a bye in the first round. He was up a break in the third set against Simon, but won only one of the final five games. At the time, Wawrinka was ranked No. 4 and Simon No. 29 on the ATP rankings. In Basel, he was beaten in the first round by
Mikhail Kukushkin Mikhail Aleksandrovich Kukushkin (russian: link=no, Михаил Александрович Кукушкин; born 26 December 1987) is a Russian-born Kazakhstani professional tennis player. Before 2008, he played for his country of birth, Russ ...
in three sets. At the Paris Masters 1000, Wawrinka recorded his first win since the US Open against
Dominic Thiem Dominic Thiem (; born 3 September 1993) is an Austrian professional tennis player. He has been ranked as high as world No. 3 in singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals, which he first achieved in March 2020. He is the second-highest r ...
. However, he fell in three tight sets to Kevin Anderson in the next round. Wawrinka had a good run in the ATP World Tour Finals, where he beat
Tomáš Berdych Tomáš Berdych (; born 17 September 1985) is a Czech former professional tennis player. His most notable achievement was reaching the final of the 2010 Wimbledon Championships, causing consecutive upsets by defeating top seed and six-time champ ...
and
Marin Čilić Marin Čilić (; born 28 September 1988) is a Croatian professional tennis player. Čilić has won 20 ATP Tour singles titles, including a major at the 2014 US Open. He was also runner-up at the 2017 Wimbledon Championships and the 2018 Austral ...
. He lost to Djokovic in the next round-robin match, but progressed to the semifinals. In the semifinals, he faced No. 2 Roger Federer, and after 2 hours he had four match points but failed to convert any of them and lost in three sets. After the match, reports emerged that Federer and Wawrinka had a heated discussion lasting for 10 minutes in the gym at the O2, after officials reportedly told them to resolve their differences after a flare-up in the tunnel. The spat was reportedly caused by
Mirka Federer Miroslava "Mirka" Federer (born Miroslava Vavrincová on 1 April 1978, later Miroslava Vavrinec) is a Swiss former professional tennis player. She is married to tennis player Roger Federer, having first met him at the 2000 Summer Olympics. She ...
's calling Wawrinka a crybaby. The pair appeared as friends though when they met for the Davis Cup final. In the final against France, Wawrinka gave his country the perfect start by defeating
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (; born 17 April 1985) is a French former professional tennis player. He was ranked as high as world No. 5 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), which he achieved in February 2012. Tsonga won 18 singles titles on th ...
in four sets. Wawrinka then teamed up with Federer to win the doubles rubber and give Switzerland a 2–1 lead going into the final day. The match ended a sequence of four doubles rubbers losses for the pair, and it was their first win together on clay. Wawrinka did not play on the final day, as Federer sealed the tie, by beating Gasquet in straight sets for Switzerland's first Davis Cup title. With the win, Wawrinka became the first player since
Andre Agassi Andre Kirk Agassi ( ; born April 29, 1970) is an American former world No. 1 tennis player. He is an eight-time major champion and an Olympic gold medalist, as well as a runner-up in seven other majors. Agassi is the second of five men to ach ...
in 1992 to win his first Grand Slam title and first Davis Cup in the same season.


2015: French Open champion

In January, Wawrinka was crowned champion of the
Chennai Open Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...
for the third time running, winning against Slovenian player,
Aljaž Bedene Aljaž Bedene (born 18 July 1989) is a Slovenian former professional tennis player. He was a naturalised Briton and played with this nationality from 2015 to 2017, returning to represent Slovenia in 2018. Bedene has won six Futures and 16 Chal ...
in the final, after a win against No. 22
David Goffin David Goffin (; born 7 December 1990) is a Belgian professional tennis player. His career-high singles ranking is world No. 7. He is currently the Belgian No. 1, and the first Belgian man to be ranked in the top 10. Goffin has won six ATP titles ...
. At the
Australian Open The Australian Open is a tennis tournament held annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia. The tournament is the first of the four Grand Slam tennis events held each year, preceding the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open. Th ...
he reached the semifinals again by beating
Kei Nishikori is an inactive Japanese professional tennis player. He is the second male Japanese player to have been ranked in the top 5 in singles (after Jiro Sato), and the only one to do so in the Open Era. Nishikori first reached his career-high singles ...
in straight sets. In his semifinal, Wawrinka lost to
Novak Djokovic Novak Djokovic ( sr-Cyrl, Новак Ђоковић, translit=Novak Đoković, ; born 22 May 1987) is a Serbian professional tennis player. He has been ranked world No. 1 for a record total 373 weeks, and has finished as the year-end No. 1 ...
in five sets, bringing to an end his Australian Open title defence. As a result of failing to defend his title, Wawrinka dropped from No. 4 in the world rankings pre-tournament to No. 9 post-tournament. On 15 February, he prevailed over
Tomáš Berdych Tomáš Berdych (; born 17 September 1985) is a Czech former professional tennis player. His most notable achievement was reaching the final of the 2010 Wimbledon Championships, causing consecutive upsets by defeating top seed and six-time champ ...
in three sets to win the title at the
ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament The Rotterdam Open, also known by its sponsored name ABN AMRO Open, and formely known as: ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament (1991-2021), is a professional men's tennis tournament played on indoor hard courts. It is part of the ATP Tour 500 series ...
. He next competed at the
Open 13 The Open 13 is an annual men's tennis tournament played in Marseille, France. The tournament is an ATP World Tour 250 series event on the Association of Tennis Professionals tour. It is held for one week in February. The number 13 is the INSEE co ...
in Marseille, where he reached the quarterfinals, losing to
Sergiy Stakhovsky Sergiy Eduardovych Stakhovsky ( uk, Сергій Едуардович Стаховський, ; born January 6, 1986) is a Ukrainian former professional tennis player. Stakhovsky turned professional in 2003 and played mostly at the Challenger le ...
. He then competed at the
Indian Wells Masters The Indian Wells Masters, also known as the Indian Wells Open and BNP Paribas Open is an annual tennis tournament usually held in early- and mid-March at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden in Indian Wells, California, United States. The owner is La ...
, where he lost to
Robin Haase Robin Haase (; born 6 April 1987) is a Dutch professional tennis player. He reached his career-high ATP singles ranking of world No. 33 in July 2012, and has won two singles titles, at the Austrian Open in both 2011 and 2012. Haase also reac ...
in his opening match, after receiving a first-round bye. He next played the
Miami Masters The Miami Open (also known as the Miami Masters, and currently branded as the Miami Open presented by Itaú for sponsorship reasons) is a tennis tournament held at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida. It is part of the men's ATP Tour Mas ...
in Miami, losing to
Adrian Mannarino Adrian Mannarino (born 29 June 1988) is a French professional tennis player. He has a career-high ATP singles ranking of world No. 22, attained on 19 March 2018. He won his first ATP Tour singles title at the 2019 Rosmalen Open on grass. He is c ...
in straight sets in the third round. As defending champion at the
Monte-Carlo Masters The Monte-Carlo Masters is an annual tennis tournament for male professional players held in Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, France, a commune that borders on Monaco. The event is part of the ATP Tour Masters 1000 on the Association of Tennis Professiona ...
, Wawrinka lost to
Grigor Dimitrov Grigor Dimitrov ( bg, Григор Димитров, ; born 16 May 1991) is a Bulgarian professional tennis player. He has been ranked as high as world No. 3 in singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), which he first achieved on ...
in the third round. He later lost in the third round at the
Mutua Madrid Open The Madrid Open ( es, Masters de Madrid, link=no), currently sponsored by Mutua Madrileña and known as the Mutua Madrid Open, is a joint men's and women's professional tennis tournament, held in Madrid, during early May. The clay-court event is ...
, again to Dimitrov. In the
Rome Masters The Italian Open ( it, Internazionali d'Italia; literally: ''Italy's Internationals''), originally called the Italian International Championships, is a tennis tournament held in Rome, Italy. It is one of the most important clay tennis tournament ...
, Wawrinka reached the semifinals before being defeated by Federer in straight sets. Wawrinka next competed in the
French Open The French Open (french: Internationaux de France de tennis), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a major tennis tournament held over two weeks at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France, beginning in late May each year. The tournament and ven ...
, as the 8th seed. He beat
Marsel İlhan Marsel İlhan ( uz, Marsel Qahhorovich Hamdamov; born 11 June 1987) is a Turkish professional tennis player, who was ranked No. 1 in Turkey and with a career-high singles ranking of world No. 77 in March 2015. He is the first ever Turki ...
and
Dušan Lajović Dušan Lajović ( sr-cyrl, Душан Лајовић; born 30 June 1990) is a Serbian professional tennis player. Lajović has won one singles and two doubles titles on the ATP Tour. On 29 April 2019, Lajović reached his career-high singles rank ...
in three and four sets, respectively, before beating Steve Johnson and
Gilles Simon Gilles Simon (; born 27 December 1984) is a French former professional tennis player. He had a career-high ATP singles ranking of world No. 6 attained on 5 January 2009. He turned professional in 2002 and won 14 singles titles on the ATP Tour. ...
in straight sets to reach the quarterfinals, and defeated compatriot
Roger Federer Roger Federer (; born 8 August 1981) is a Swiss former professional tennis player. He was ranked List of ATP number 1 ranked singles tennis players#Weeks at No. 1, world No. 1 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for 310 weeks, in ...
in straight sets to reach his first Roland Garros semifinal. This was also Wawrinka's first win over Federer in a major tournament. Winning in four sets against
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (; born 17 April 1985) is a French former professional tennis player. He was ranked as high as world No. 5 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), which he achieved in February 2012. Tsonga won 18 singles titles on th ...
in the semifinals, he earned his second appearance in a Grand Slam final, this time against top seed
Novak Djokovic Novak Djokovic ( sr-Cyrl, Новак Ђоковић, translit=Novak Đoković, ; born 22 May 1987) is a Serbian professional tennis player. He has been ranked world No. 1 for a record total 373 weeks, and has finished as the year-end No. 1 ...
. He defeated Djokovic in four sets, after being down a break in the fourth set and 0–40 in a subsequent game. He broke Djokovic's service twice in the set, reeling off six of the final seven games of the match. With this victory, Wawrinka claimed his second Grand Slam tournament title, and Djokovic failed to win a personal career Grand Slam. Wawrinka's French Open championship also denied Djokovic the 2015 calendar year Grand Slam, as Djokovic won all other Grand Slam tournaments that year. Mirroring his victory at the
2014 Australian Open The 2014 Australian Open was a tennis tournament that took place at Melbourne Park between 13 and 26 January 2014. It was the 102nd edition of the Australian Open, and the first Grand Slam tournament of the year. The tournament consisted of event ...
, Wawrinka was seeded 8th at this tournament, defeated the 2nd and 1st seeds in the quarterfinals and finals, respectively, clinched the championship match in four sets, and rose five positions in the
ATP rankings The Pepperstone ATP rankings are the merit-based method used by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for determining the qualification for entry as well as the seeding of players in all singles and doubles tournaments. The first rankings ...
, back to the No. 4 position, which was his original position at the beginning of the year. This was also the 2nd time since
Sergi Bruguera Sergi Bruguera i Torner (; born 16 January 1971) is a former professional tennis player from Spain. He won consecutive men's singles titles at the French Open in 1993 and 1994, a silver medal at the 1996 Olympic Games in men's singles and reac ...
at the 1993 French Open that the champion defeated No. 1 (Novak Djokovic) and No. 2 (Roger Federer) players in the same grand slam (Wawrinka also accomplished this feat at the 2014 Australian Open). Wawrinka is the first man to win Roland Garros after losing in the first round in the previous year since
Albert Costa Albert Costa i Casals (; born 25 June 1975) is a Spanish former professional tennis player. He is best remembered for winning the Men's Singles title at the French Open in 2002. Tennis career Costa began playing tennis at the age of five. He ...
in 2002, and the first former boys' champion to win the men's title since
Mats Wilander Mats Arne Olof Wilander (; born 22 August 1964) is a Swedish former world No. 1 tennis player. From 1982 to 1988, he won seven major singles titles (three at the French Open, three at the Australian Open, and one at the US Open), and one major ...
in 1982. Wawrinka exited from
Queen's Club The Queen's Club is a private sporting club in West Kensington, London, England. The club hosts the annual Queen's Club Championships men's grass court lawn tennis tournament (currently known as the "cinch Championships" for sponsorship reas ...
as the Swiss bowed out of the
Aegon Championships The Queen's Club Championships is an annual tournament for male tennis players, held on grass courts at the Queen's Club in West Kensington, London. The event is part of the ATP Tour 500 series on the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) ...
in the second round, against eventual runner-up Kevin Anderson. He reached the quarter finals of
Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * ...
, the furthest he had ever reached, matching his result from last year, but was ousted by
Richard Gasquet Richard Gabriel Cyr Gasquet (; born 18 June 1986) is a French professional tennis player. His career-high ATP singles ranking is world No. 7, attained on 9 July 2007. He has won a total of 15 singles titles on the ATP Tour. His best performances ...
in a five-set thriller, despite being up two sets to one. Wawrinka continued his dominant Grand Slam form at the US Open, with wins over Albert Ramos,
Chung Hyeon Chung Hyeon (; ; born 19 May 1996) is a South Korean professional tennis player. He is the 2017 Next Gen Finals champion. As an unseeded player, he became the first Korean player to reach a Grand Slam semifinal at the 2018 Australian Open. ...
,
Ruben Bemelmans Ruben Bemelmans (; born 14 January 1988) is a Belgian former professional tennis player. He has a career-high ATP ranking of world No. 84 in singles, achieved on 28 September 2015, and world No. 128 in doubles, achieved on 1 October 2012. Beme ...
, Donald Young. He then beat South African Kevin Anderson in straight sets in the quarterfinals to advance to the semifinals, where he was dispatched in straight sets by
Roger Federer Roger Federer (; born 8 August 1981) is a Swiss former professional tennis player. He was ranked List of ATP number 1 ranked singles tennis players#Weeks at No. 1, world No. 1 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for 310 weeks, in ...
. Wawrinka then helped Switzerland advance to the Davis Cup World Group with a five-set win over Dutchman
Thiemo de Bakker Thiemo Carsten Jannick de Bakker (born 19 September 1988) is a Dutch professional tennis player. Considered a top prospect of his generation as a junior, he also made an impressive breakthrough as a young pro, reaching a career-high ranking in ...
in Geneva. He then competed in the
Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championships The Japan Open (currently sponsored by Rakuten) is a men's tennis tournament held in Ariake Tennis Forest Park with its center court Ariake Coliseum, located in Koto, Tokyo, Japan. It was originally founded in 1915 as the Japan International Cha ...
, entering as the first seed. Wawrinka avenged his loss to
Tatsuma Ito , fullname = Tatsuma Ito , country = , residence = , birth_date = , birth_place = Inabe, Japan , height = , turnedpro = December 2006 , plays = Right-handed (two-handed backhand) , coach = Alexander Waske , careerprizemoney = $1,735,524. , si ...
at the same tournament the previous year by defeating him in the second round. He eventually advanced to the finals, where he beat
Benoît Paire Benoît Paire (; born 8 May 1989) is a French professional tennis player. His best result in a Grand Slam has been reaching the fourth round, which he has achieved on four occasions. He has won three singles titles, at the 2015 Swedish Open, t ...
in straight sets and won his fourth title of the season. Wawrinka then entered the
Shanghai Rolex Masters The Shanghai Masters ( zh, , s=上海大师赛, also known as Shanghai Rolex Masters for sponsorship reasons) is a professional men's tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts, and held annually in early October at the Qizhong Forest Sports ...
, where he defeated former US Open champion
Marin Čilić Marin Čilić (; born 28 September 1988) is a Croatian professional tennis player. Čilić has won 20 ATP Tour singles titles, including a major at the 2014 US Open. He was also runner-up at the 2017 Wimbledon Championships and the 2018 Austral ...
in a three-set battle before losing in straight sets to Rafael Nadal in the quarterfinals. Playing in the
Paris Masters The Paris Masters is an annual tennis tournament for male professional players held in Paris, France. It is played indoors at the AccorHotels Arena, in the neighborhood of Bercy. The event is part of the ATP Tour Masters 1000 on the Association o ...
, Wawrinka avenged his previous loss to Rafael Nadal in Shanghai with a two set victory. In the semifinals, Wawrinka lost to Novak Djokovic in a three set match. He then matched his performance at the
ATP World Tour Finals The ATP Finals is the season-ending championship of the ATP Tour. It is the most significant event in the annual ATP calendar after the four majors as it features the top-eight singles players and top-eight doubles teams based on their results th ...
the previous year by reaching the semifinals in London with round-robin wins over
Andy Murray Sir Andrew Barron Murray (born 15 May 1987) is a British professional tennis player from Scotland. He was ranked world No. 1 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for 41 weeks, and finished as the year-end No. 1 in 2016. Murray h ...
and
David Ferrer David Ferrer Ern (; ; born 2 April 1982) is a Spanish former professional tennis player. A three-time Davis Cup champion with Spain Davis Cup team, Spain, Ferrer has won tournaments at all levels on the ATP Tour (ATP Tour 250, ATP 250, ATP Tour ...
. In the semifinals, Wawrinka played Roger Federer for the fifth time in the 2015 season, losing in straight sets.


2016: 400th career win, US Open champion

Wawrinka started his season at the
Chennai Open Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...
where he was the two-time defending champion and 1st seed. He started against young wildcard
Andrey Rublev Andrey Andreyevich Rublev (russian: Андрей Андреевич Рублёв; born 20 October 1997) is a Russian professional tennis player. He has been ranked as high as world No. 5 in singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (AT ...
. He won in straight sets. Then he played 5th seed
Guillermo García López Guillermo García López (, born 4 June 1983) is a Spanish former professional tennis player. He has won five singles titles and achieved a career-high singles ranking of world No. 23 in February 2011. As of 2021, he has collected thirteen w ...
. He also won in straight sets. In the semifinal he played against 3rd seed and good friend
Benoît Paire Benoît Paire (; born 8 May 1989) is a French professional tennis player. His best result in a Grand Slam has been reaching the fourth round, which he has achieved on four occasions. He has won three singles titles, at the 2015 Swedish Open, t ...
. He won another straight sets match. In the final he played 8th seed and young talent
Borna Ćorić Borna Ćorić (; born 14 November 1996) is a Croatian professional tennis player. On 5 November 2018, he reached his best singles ranking of world No. 12. On 21 August 2022, Ćorić became the lowest-ranked champion in Masters 1000 history when ...
. He successfully defended his title without dropping a set the entire tournament. He then played in the
Australian Open The Australian Open is a tennis tournament held annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia. The tournament is the first of the four Grand Slam tennis events held each year, preceding the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open. Th ...
where he was the 4th seed. He started against
Dmitry Tursunov Dmitry Igorevich Tursunov (; born 12 December 1982) is a retired Russian tennis player and current tennis coach. At age 12 he moved to the United States to train and further his prospects of becoming a professional player. His career-high singl ...
who was here on a protected ranking. Wawrinka won the first two sets before Tursunov had to retire due to injury. He then played qualifier
Radek Štěpánek Radek Štěpánek (; born 27 November 1978) is a Czech former professional tennis player. His career-high singles ranking was world No. 8 and best doubles ranking was world No. 4. Štěpánek's biggest achievements are reaching two Masters 1000 ...
where he won in straight sets. He then proceeded to the third round where he played
Lukáš Rosol Lukáš Rosol (; born 24 July 1985) is a Czech professional tennis player. He competes on the ATP Challenger Tour and the ATP Tour, both in singles and doubles. Rosol was coached by former Czech player, 1999 US Open quarterfinalist Ctislav Dosed ...
. He also won in straight sets to mark his 400th career win. Then in the fourth round he played big serving Canadian and 13th seed
Milos Raonic Milos Raonic (; sr, Милош Раонић, Miloš Raonić, ; born December 27, 1990) is a Canadian inactive professional tennis player. He has been ranked as high as world No. 3 in singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), wh ...
. Despite pushing it to a fifth set he was unable to overcome the Canadian and lost. It also snapped Wawrinka's streak of 6 consecutive quarterfinals or better appearances in Grand Slams. Wawrinka then played in the
Open 13 The Open 13 is an annual men's tennis tournament played in Marseille, France. The tournament is an ATP World Tour 250 series event on the Association of Tennis Professionals tour. It is held for one week in February. The number 13 is the INSEE co ...
as the 1st seed. He started against
Sergiy Stakhovsky Sergiy Eduardovych Stakhovsky ( uk, Сергій Едуардович Стаховський, ; born January 6, 1986) is a Ukrainian former professional tennis player. Stakhovsky turned professional in 2003 and played mostly at the Challenger le ...
who had defeated him here last year. He won after saving a few matchpoints. He then proceeded to the quarterfinals. He had a disappointing loss to good friend
Benoît Paire Benoît Paire (; born 8 May 1989) is a French professional tennis player. His best result in a Grand Slam has been reaching the fourth round, which he has achieved on four occasions. He has won three singles titles, at the 2015 Swedish Open, t ...
. Wawrinka then played in the
Dubai Tennis Championships The Dubai Tennis Championships or Dubai Open (also known as the ''Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships'' for sponsorship reasons) (formerly known for sponsorship reasons as the ''Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships'' and the ''Dubai Duty Free Men's ...
as the 2nd seed. He won against
Sergiy Stakhovsky Sergiy Eduardovych Stakhovsky ( uk, Сергій Едуардович Стаховський, ; born January 6, 1986) is a Ukrainian former professional tennis player. Stakhovsky turned professional in 2003 and played mostly at the Challenger le ...
, qualifier
Franko Škugor Franko Škugor (; born 20 September 1987) is a Croatian professional tennis player who mainly competes on the ATP Challenger Tour and specialized in doubles. He has a career-high ATP doubles ranking of World No. 17 achieved on 22 April 2019. He i ...
and
Philipp Kohlschreiber Philipp Eberhard Hermann Kohlschreiber (; born 16 October 1983) is a German former professional tennis player. The right-hander won eight singles and seven doubles titles on the ATP World Tour and made the quarterfinals at the 2012 Wimbledon Cha ...
. In the semifinals
Nick Kyrgios Nicholas Hilmy Kyrgios ( ; born 27 April 1995) is an Australian professional tennis player. In singles, Kyrgios' career-high ATP singles ranking of world No. 13 was achieved on 24 October 2016. He has won seven ATP Tour singles titles, includin ...
retired in set two. In the final he played surprise finalist
Marcos Baghdatis Marcos Baghdatis ( el, Μάρκος Παγδατής, ar, ماركوس بغداتيس; ; born 17 June 1985) is a Cypriot former professional tennis player. He was the runner-up at the 2006 Australian Open and a semifinalist at the 2006 Wimble ...
and won in straight sets. He then played in the first masters 1000 of the year at the
Indian Wells Masters The Indian Wells Masters, also known as the Indian Wells Open and BNP Paribas Open is an annual tennis tournament usually held in early- and mid-March at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden in Indian Wells, California, United States. The owner is La ...
as the 3rd seed. Wawrinka beat
Illya Marchenko Illya Vasylovych Marchenko ( uk, Ілля Васильович Марченко) (born 8 September 1987) is a Ukrainian professional tennis player. Marchenko turned professional in 2005 and had been playing at the Futures and Challengers level f ...
and Andrey Kuznetsov but lost to 15th seed
David Goffin David Goffin (; born 7 December 1990) is a Belgian professional tennis player. His career-high singles ranking is world No. 7. He is currently the Belgian No. 1, and the first Belgian man to be ranked in the top 10. Goffin has won six ATP titles ...
in a third set tiebreak. At the Miami Open Wawrinka lost in the first round to Andrey Kuznetsov. Next up was the
Monte-Carlo Masters The Monte-Carlo Masters is an annual tennis tournament for male professional players held in Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, France, a commune that borders on Monaco. The event is part of the ATP Tour Masters 1000 on the Association of Tennis Professiona ...
with wins against
Philipp Kohlschreiber Philipp Eberhard Hermann Kohlschreiber (; born 16 October 1983) is a German former professional tennis player. The right-hander won eight singles and seven doubles titles on the ATP World Tour and made the quarterfinals at the 2012 Wimbledon Cha ...
and
Gilles Simon Gilles Simon (; born 27 December 1984) is a French former professional tennis player. He had a career-high ATP singles ranking of world No. 6 attained on 5 January 2009. He turned professional in 2002 and won 14 singles titles on the ATP Tour. ...
. He then suffered a two set loss to the eventual champion,
Rafael Nadal Rafael Nadal Parera (, ; born 3 June 1986) is a Spanish professional tennis player. He is currently ranked world No. 2 in singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP). He has been ranked List of ATP number 1 ranked singles tennis ...
. Wawrinka then suffered another first round exit at the
Madrid Open There are three sporting events known as the Madrid Open: * Madrid Open (golf) The Madrid Open was an annual men's golf tournament which was held in and around the Spanish capital Madrid from 1968 to 2007, apart from a seven-year gap from 1994 to ...
to
Nick Kyrgios Nicholas Hilmy Kyrgios ( ; born 27 April 1995) is an Australian professional tennis player. In singles, Kyrgios' career-high ATP singles ranking of world No. 13 was achieved on 24 October 2016. He has won seven ATP Tour singles titles, includin ...
. He then competed at the
Rome Masters The Italian Open ( it, Internazionali d'Italia; literally: ''Italy's Internationals''), originally called the Italian International Championships, is a tennis tournament held in Rome, Italy. It is one of the most important clay tennis tournament ...
as the 4th seed. He had a three set win against
Benoît Paire Benoît Paire (; born 8 May 1989) is a French professional tennis player. His best result in a Grand Slam has been reaching the fourth round, which he has achieved on four occasions. He has won three singles titles, at the 2015 Swedish Open, t ...
but then had a three set loss to Juan Mónaco, who was here with a protected ranking. At the
Geneva Open The Geneva Open is an ATP Tour (formerly Grand Prix) affiliated tennis tournament that was held annually from 1980 to 1991 in Geneva, Switzerland on clay courts. In November 2014 the ATP announced that the Düsseldorf tournament would be moved to ...
Wawrinka had two easy wins against
Albert Ramos Viñolas Albert Ramos Viñolas (; born 17 January 1988) is a Spanish professional tennis player. He is currently ranked in the top 40 in singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), and has a career-high ATP singles ranking of world No. 17, ...
and
Pablo Carreño Busta Pablo Carreño Busta (; born 12 July 1991) is a Spanish professional tennis player. He has been ranked as high as world No. 10 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), which he first achieved on 11 September 2017. He also reached a best ...
, and a three set victory over
Lukáš Rosol Lukáš Rosol (; born 24 July 1985) is a Czech professional tennis player. He competes on the ATP Challenger Tour and the ATP Tour, both in singles and doubles. Rosol was coached by former Czech player, 1999 US Open quarterfinalist Ctislav Dosed ...
. In the final he played
Marin Čilić Marin Čilić (; born 28 September 1988) is a Croatian professional tennis player. Čilić has won 20 ATP Tour singles titles, including a major at the 2014 US Open. He was also runner-up at the 2017 Wimbledon Championships and the 2018 Austral ...
. He won his 3rd title of the year with a tight straight sets win. His next tournament was the second major of the year, the
French Open The French Open (french: Internationaux de France de tennis), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a major tennis tournament held over two weeks at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France, beginning in late May each year. The tournament and ven ...
, as the 3rd seed and the defending champion. Against
Lukáš Rosol Lukáš Rosol (; born 24 July 1985) is a Czech professional tennis player. He competes on the ATP Challenger Tour and the ATP Tour, both in singles and doubles. Rosol was coached by former Czech player, 1999 US Open quarterfinalist Ctislav Dosed ...
Wawrinka was down two sets to one, but came through in five sets. Wins over
Taro Daniel is a Japanese-American professional tennis player. He has won one ATP Tour singles title at the 2018 Istanbul Open, seven ATP Challenger Tour singles titles and achieved a career-high singles ranking of world No. 64 on 27 August 2018. Person ...
,
Jérémy Chardy Jérémy Chardy (; born 12 February 1987) is a French inactive professional tennis player. He has won one ATP Tour singles title, in Stuttgart in 2009. His best Grand Slam performance in singles was reaching the quarterfinals of the 2013 Austra ...
and
Viktor Troicki Viktor Troicki ( sr-Cyrl, Виктор Троицки, ; born 10 February 1986) is a Serbian former professional tennis player. He won his first ATP singles title at the 2010 Kremlin Cup, and his second and third ATP singles titles at the 2015 a ...
sent Wawrinka to the quarterfinals, where he dispatched
Albert Ramos Viñolas Albert Ramos Viñolas (; born 17 January 1988) is a Spanish professional tennis player. He is currently ranked in the top 40 in singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), and has a career-high ATP singles ranking of world No. 17, ...
in straight sets. In the semifinals he played 2nd seed
Andy Murray Sir Andrew Barron Murray (born 15 May 1987) is a British professional tennis player from Scotland. He was ranked world No. 1 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for 41 weeks, and finished as the year-end No. 1 in 2016. Murray h ...
. He lost in four sets. He then played at Queens in the Aegon Championships as the second seed. However he suffered a straight sets defeat to No. 53 Fernando Verdasco in the first round. His next tournament was at the
Wimbledon Championships The Wimbledon Championships, commonly known simply as Wimbledon, is the oldest tennis tournament in the world and is widely regarded as the most prestigious. It has been held at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, All England Club in ...
, as the 4th seed. In the first round he faced
Taylor Fritz Taylor Harry Fritz (born October 28, 1997) is an American professional tennis player. He has a career-high singles ranking of world No. 8 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), achieved on October 10, 2022, and a doubles ranking of w ...
and won in four sets. However, he was beaten in the second round by
Juan Martín del Potro Juan Martín del Potro () (born 23 September 1988) is an Argentine inactive professional tennis player. Del Potro's biggest achievement is a major title: the 2009 US Open, where he defeated Rafael Nadal in the semifinals and the five-time defen ...
on the comeback in four sets. After missing the
Olympics The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a var ...
due to a back injury, Wawrinka played at the Cincinnati Masters. However, he would lose to Grigor Dimitrov in two sets in the third round. Prior to the start of the U.S. Open, Wawrinka returned to the Top 3 in the
ATP rankings The Pepperstone ATP rankings are the merit-based method used by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for determining the qualification for entry as well as the seeding of players in all singles and doubles tournaments. The first rankings ...
due to Roger Federer being unable to defend his title in Cincinnati due to injury. In the first round he faced
Fernando Verdasco Fernando Verdasco Carmona (; born 15 November 1983) is a Spanish professional tennis player. His career-high singles ranking is world No. 7, achieved in April 2009. His best performance in a Grand Slam was making the semifinals of the 2009 ...
, beating the Spaniard in straight sets. He then faced qualifier Alessandro Giannessi, also winning in three sets. He then played a four-hour match in the third round against British player Daniel Evans, which saw Wawrinka save a match point in the fourth set tiebreak, before beating Evans in five sets. He then defeated
Illya Marchenko Illya Vasylovych Marchenko ( uk, Ілля Васильович Марченко) (born 8 September 1987) is a Ukrainian professional tennis player. Marchenko turned professional in 2005 and had been playing at the Futures and Challengers level f ...
in four sets in the fourth round. In his fourth consecutive quarterfinal appearance at the U.S. Open, he defeated
Juan Martín del Potro Juan Martín del Potro () (born 23 September 1988) is an Argentine inactive professional tennis player. Del Potro's biggest achievement is a major title: the 2009 US Open, where he defeated Rafael Nadal in the semifinals and the five-time defen ...
in four sets. He defeated
Kei Nishikori is an inactive Japanese professional tennis player. He is the second male Japanese player to have been ranked in the top 5 in singles (after Jiro Sato), and the only one to do so in the Open Era. Nishikori first reached his career-high singles ...
in the semifinals in four sets and went on to defeat Novak Djokovic in four sets to win the 2016 U.S. Open, his third major title in as many years and his eleventh consecutive win in a championship final. With this victory, Wawrinka improved his record to 2–0 in major finals against Djokovic and he remained the only player to defeat Djokovic in Djokovic's twelve Grand Slam finals dating back to the 2014 Wimbledon championships. Much as Wawrinka's
2015 French Open The 2015 French Open was a tennis tournament played on outdoor clay courts. It was the 119th edition of the French Open and the second Grand Slam event of the year. It took place at the Stade Roland Garros from 24 May to 7 June and consisted of e ...
victory denied Djokovic the 2015 calendar year Grand Slam, his win at this tournament denied Djokovic claiming three Grand Slam victories in successive years (2015 and 2016). Wawrinka defeated the No. 1 player in the finals of all three of his grand slam titles. The 2016 US Open final was the only match that year in which Djokovic won the first set but lost the match (53–1). He then entered St Petersburg Open, and reached the final, losing to rising teenager
Alexander Zverev Jr. Alexander "Sascha" Zverev (; born 20 April 1997) is a German professional tennis player. He has been ranked by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) as high as world No. 2, and was continuously ranked in the top 10 from July 2017 to ...
in 3 sets. This gifted Zverev his first ATP World Tour title and also snapped Wawrinka's streak of 11 consecutive finals won. Wawrinka did not achieve more notable results for the rest of the season, losing to
Gilles Simon Gilles Simon (; born 27 December 1984) is a French former professional tennis player. He had a career-high ATP singles ranking of world No. 6 attained on 5 January 2009. He turned professional in 2002 and won 14 singles titles on the ATP Tour. ...
in the third round of
Shanghai Rolex Masters The Shanghai Masters ( zh, , s=上海大师赛, also known as Shanghai Rolex Masters for sponsorship reasons) is a professional men's tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts, and held annually in early October at the Qizhong Forest Sports ...
,
Mischa Zverev Mikhail "Mischa" Alexandrovich Zverev (russian: Михаил "Миша" Александрович Зверев, , ; born 22 August 1987) is a German professional tennis player born in Russia. He achieved a career-high singles ranking of world ...
in the quarterfinals of Swiss Indoors, and
Jan-Lennard Struff Jan-Lennard Struff (; born 25 April 1990) is a German professional tennis player. He reached his career-high ATP singles ranking of world No. 29 in August 2020. In doubles, he achieved a career-high ranking of world No. 21 in October 2018. He ha ...
in the second round of
Paris Masters The Paris Masters is an annual tennis tournament for male professional players held in Paris, France. It is played indoors at the AccorHotels Arena, in the neighborhood of Bercy. The event is part of the ATP Tour Masters 1000 on the Association o ...
after holding matchpoint. Wawrinka then played his final tournament of the season at the
ATP World Tour Finals The ATP Finals is the season-ending championship of the ATP Tour. It is the most significant event in the annual ATP calendar after the four majors as it features the top-eight singles players and top-eight doubles teams based on their results th ...
, and for the first time failed to make to the semifinals, losing his first round robin match in straight sets to
Kei Nishikori is an inactive Japanese professional tennis player. He is the second male Japanese player to have been ranked in the top 5 in singles (after Jiro Sato), and the only one to do so in the Open Era. Nishikori first reached his career-high singles ...
, then beating
Marin Čilić Marin Čilić (; born 28 September 1988) is a Croatian professional tennis player. Čilić has won 20 ATP Tour singles titles, including a major at the 2014 US Open. He was also runner-up at the 2017 Wimbledon Championships and the 2018 Austral ...
in 2 tiebreaks, and losing to No. 1
Andy Murray Sir Andrew Barron Murray (born 15 May 1987) is a British professional tennis player from Scotland. He was ranked world No. 1 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for 41 weeks, and finished as the year-end No. 1 in 2016. Murray h ...
in straight sets. As a result of this and
Milos Raonic Milos Raonic (; sr, Милош Раонић, Miloš Raonić, ; born December 27, 1990) is a Canadian inactive professional tennis player. He has been ranked as high as world No. 3 in singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), wh ...
reaching the semifinals, Raonic overtook Wawrinka as No. 3 at the conclusion of the tournament. Wawrinka would finish the season as No. 4 for the third straight year.


2017: French Open finalist, knee injury

To start his 2017 campaign, Wawrinka chose not to defend his Chennai Open title (he had won the previous 3 editions), and played in Brisbane instead. He reached the semifinals, losing to No. 5 Kei Nishikori in straight sets. At the
Australian Open The Australian Open is a tennis tournament held annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia. The tournament is the first of the four Grand Slam tennis events held each year, preceding the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open. Th ...
he barely escaped a first round exit by beating Slovakian player
Martin Kližan Martin Kližan (; born 11 July 1989) is a Slovak former professional tennis player. The winner of the 2006 French Open boys' singles title, Kližan turned pro in 2007 and had a career-high singles ranking of world No. 24, achieved on 27 April ...
after being down a break in the 5th set. He then played Steve Johnson and beat him in straight sets and played
Viktor Troicki Viktor Troicki ( sr-Cyrl, Виктор Троицки, ; born 10 February 1986) is a Serbian former professional tennis player. He won his first ATP singles title at the 2010 Kremlin Cup, and his second and third ATP singles titles at the 2015 a ...
in the third round, winning in four sets. In the fourth round, he played Italian
Andreas Seppi Andreas Seppi (born 21 February 1984) is an Italian former professional tennis player. He reached a career-high singles ranking of world No. 18 on 28 January 2013. He became the first Italian to win a title on all three surfaces. Tennis car ...
, beating him in three tight tiebreaks to progress to the quarterfinals. He then beat 12th seed
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (; born 17 April 1985) is a French former professional tennis player. He was ranked as high as world No. 5 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), which he achieved in February 2012. Tsonga won 18 singles titles on th ...
in three sets, to set up a semifinal against his compatriot and 17th seed
Roger Federer Roger Federer (; born 8 August 1981) is a Swiss former professional tennis player. He was ranked List of ATP number 1 ranked singles tennis players#Weeks at No. 1, world No. 1 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for 310 weeks, in ...
. Wawrinka lost the all-Swiss clash, recovering from a two sets to love deficit and holding numerous breaking points in the opening games of 5th set only to ultimately lose 3–6. Federer went on to win the tournament. Despite the loss this result elevated Wawrinka back to No. 3. Wawrinka was then upset by
Damir Džumhur Damir Džumhur ( ; born 20 May 1992) is a professional tennis player from Bosnia and Herzegovina. He is currently Bosnia and Herzegovina's No. 1 player. His career-best singles ranking of World No. 23 achieved on 2 July 2018, makes him the highes ...
in the first round of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships in straight sets. At the
Indian Wells Masters The Indian Wells Masters, also known as the Indian Wells Open and BNP Paribas Open is an annual tennis tournament usually held in early- and mid-March at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden in Indian Wells, California, United States. The owner is La ...
, Wawrinka was seeded 3rd. After receiving a bye, his first two matches included victories over
Paolo Lorenzi Paolo Lorenzi (; born 15 December 1981) is an Italian former professional tennis player. Lorenzi was coached by Claudio Galoppini. Tennis career Lorenzi reached his first ATP World Tour final at the age of 32, in São Paulo. Here, at the 2014 B ...
and
Philipp Kohlschreiber Philipp Eberhard Hermann Kohlschreiber (; born 16 October 1983) is a German former professional tennis player. The right-hander won eight singles and seven doubles titles on the ATP World Tour and made the quarterfinals at the 2012 Wimbledon Cha ...
. In the fourth round, Wawrinka came from down a set to beat lucky loser
Yoshihito Nishioka is a Japanese tennis player. He has won two ATP Tour singles titles and achieved a career-high ATP singles ranking of world No. 36 on 7 November 2022. He is currently the No. 1 Japanese player. Career Junior career As a junior, he compiled a ...
in the third set tiebreak after Nishioka served for the match twice. He then beat
Dominic Thiem Dominic Thiem (; born 3 September 1993) is an Austrian professional tennis player. He has been ranked as high as world No. 3 in singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals, which he first achieved in March 2020. He is the second-highest r ...
in three sets to reach his ninth ATP Masters 1000 semifinal. He defeated first-time Masters semifinalist
Pablo Carreño Busta Pablo Carreño Busta (; born 12 July 1991) is a Spanish professional tennis player. He has been ranked as high as world No. 10 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), which he first achieved on 11 September 2017. He also reached a best ...
in straight sets to reach his first final at Indian Wells, as well as his first Masters final on hard court. He was defeated by
Roger Federer Roger Federer (; born 8 August 1981) is a Swiss former professional tennis player. He was ranked List of ATP number 1 ranked singles tennis players#Weeks at No. 1, world No. 1 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for 310 weeks, in ...
in the final in straight sets. Wawrinka was notably the only person to break Federer's serve during the entire tournament, after he broke Federer's opening service game in the second set. At the
Miami Masters The Miami Open (also known as the Miami Masters, and currently branded as the Miami Open presented by Itaú for sponsorship reasons) is a tennis tournament held at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida. It is part of the men's ATP Tour Mas ...
Wawrinka was the top seed at a Masters 1000 tournament for the first time in his career, after No. 1
Andy Murray Sir Andrew Barron Murray (born 15 May 1987) is a British professional tennis player from Scotland. He was ranked world No. 1 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for 41 weeks, and finished as the year-end No. 1 in 2016. Murray h ...
and No. 2
Novak Djokovic Novak Djokovic ( sr-Cyrl, Новак Ђоковић, translit=Novak Đoković, ; born 22 May 1987) is a Serbian professional tennis player. He has been ranked world No. 1 for a record total 373 weeks, and has finished as the year-end No. 1 ...
both withdrew due to elbow injuries. He was defeated in the fourth round by
Alexander Zverev Jr. Alexander "Sascha" Zverev (; born 20 April 1997) is a German professional tennis player. He has been ranked by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) as high as world No. 2, and was continuously ranked in the top 10 from July 2017 to ...
in three sets. At the French Open, Wawrinka defeated Jozef Kovalík, Alexandr Dolgopolov, Fabio Fognini, Gaël Monfils and Marin Čilić in straight sets. In a rematch of last year's semifinal he played Andy Murray in the semis. However this year Wawrinka was victorious in five sets. In the final he was defeated by Nadal in straight sets, his first loss in a major final. Wawrinka then entered
Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * ...
with the chance to complete his career Grand Slam, but lost his opening match against
Daniil Medvedev Daniil Sergeyevich Medvedev (russian: Даниил Сергеевич Медведев; born 11 February 1996) is a Russian professional tennis player. He is currently ranked world No. 7 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), and was ...
, a Russian player who was making his Wimbledon debut, in four sets. There was speculation that Wawrinka had an injured knee, and Wawrinka confirmed it by announcing that he would be taking time off to heal. On 4 August 2017, Wawrinka announced that he would undergo surgery to repair the damage on his knee, and that he would miss the remainder of the 2017 tennis season.


2018: Continued injuries, out of top 250, return to tour

He made his return to the tour at the 2018 Australian Open, where he lost in the second round to
Tennys Sandgren Tennys Sandgren II ( ; born July 22, 1991) is an American professional tennis player. He has achieved a career-high ATP singles ATP rankings, ranking of No. 41 on January 14, 2019. He broke into the top 100 of the ATP rankings toward the end of 2 ...
in straight sets. His next tournament was the Sofia Open, where he lost in the semifinals to
Mirza Bašić Mirza Bašić (; born 12 July 1991) is a Bosnian professional tennis player. He has won one ATP singles title and is a member of the Bosnia and Herzegovina Davis Cup team. Bašić reached his first Grand Slam tournament after qualifying for t ...
. Then he entered the ABN AMRO World tournament, where he lost in the first round to wildcard
Tallon Griekspoor Tallon Griekspoor (; born 2 July 1996) is a Dutch professional tennis player. He has a career-high ATP singles ranking of world No. 36, achieved on 6 March 2023. He also has a career high ATP doubles ranking of World No. 217 achieved on 31 Octob ...
. His next tournament was the
Open 13 The Open 13 is an annual men's tennis tournament played in Marseille, France. The tournament is an ATP World Tour 250 series event on the Association of Tennis Professionals tour. It is held for one week in February. The number 13 is the INSEE co ...
in Marseille, France. He retired during his first match, trailing
Ilya Ivashka Ilya Uladzimiravich Ivashka ( be, Ілья Уладзіміравіч Івашка; russian: Илья Владимирович Ивашко; born 24 February 1994) is a Belarusian professional tennis player. Ivashka has a career-high singles ran ...
by one set, at 1–1 during the second set because of his knee injury. After missing almost three months due to his injury, Wawrinka returned in the 2018 Italian Open but lost in the first round to Steve Johnson in straight sets. He then played at the 2018 Geneva Open where he was the two-time defending champion but his title defense ended in a straight sets defeat to
Márton Fucsovics Márton Fucsovics ( hu, Fucsovics Márton, ; born 8 February 1992) is a Hungarian professional tennis player. He achieved a career-high ATP singles ranking of No. 31 on 4 March 2019. He is currently the No. 1 Hungarian player. Early life Fucs ...
in the quarterfinals. In the
2018 French Open The 2018 French Open was a Grand Slam (tennis), major tennis tournament played on outdoor clay courts. It took place at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France, from 27 May to 10 June and consisted of events for players in singles, doubles and m ...
, he was seeded 23rd, but lost in the first round to
Guillermo García López Guillermo García López (, born 4 June 1983) is a Spanish former professional tennis player. He has won five singles titles and achieved a career-high singles ranking of world No. 23 in February 2011. As of 2021, he has collected thirteen w ...
in five sets, which made him drop from 30 to 263 in the rankings. He entered
Queens Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...
as a wildcard, losing to fifth seed
Sam Querrey Samuel Austin Querrey (; born October 7, 1987) is an American former professional tennis player. He reached a career-high singles ranking of world No. 11 achieved on February 26, 2018, and won ten ATP singles titles. Known for his powerful serve ...
in the second round. He gained entry to
Eastbourne Eastbourne () is a town and seaside resort in East Sussex, on the south coast of England, east of Brighton and south of London. Eastbourne is immediately east of Beachy Head, the highest chalk sea cliff in Great Britain and part of the la ...
as a wildcard, where, in the first round, he played
Andy Murray Sir Andrew Barron Murray (born 15 May 1987) is a British professional tennis player from Scotland. He was ranked world No. 1 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for 41 weeks, and finished as the year-end No. 1 in 2016. Murray h ...
, who was playing just his second tournament after a year-long absence from the sport. Wawrinka lost in straight sets. Wawrinka was unseeded at
Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * ...
, but upset 6th-seed
Grigor Dimitrov Grigor Dimitrov ( bg, Григор Димитров, ; born 16 May 1991) is a Bulgarian professional tennis player. He has been ranked as high as world No. 3 in singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), which he first achieved on ...
in the first round in four sets. He then lost to
Thomas Fabbiano Thomas Fabbiano (born 26 May 1989) is an Italian tennis player playing on the ATP Challenger Tour. On 11 September 2017, he reached his then highest ATP singles ranking of 70. His highest doubles ranking was 208 on 20 July 2009. He reached his ...
in straight sets. Entering
Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...
as a wildcard, he narrowly lost to Donald Young in the first round. He also received wildcard entry to the 2018 Rogers Cup, where he defeated 16th seed
Nick Kyrgios Nicholas Hilmy Kyrgios ( ; born 27 April 1995) is an Australian professional tennis player. In singles, Kyrgios' career-high ATP singles ranking of world No. 13 was achieved on 24 October 2016. He has won seven ATP Tour singles titles, includin ...
in the first round and
Márton Fucsovics Márton Fucsovics ( hu, Fucsovics Márton, ; born 8 February 1992) is a Hungarian professional tennis player. He achieved a career-high ATP singles ranking of No. 31 on 4 March 2019. He is currently the No. 1 Hungarian player. Early life Fucs ...
in the second before being defeated by top seed and eventual champion
Rafael Nadal Rafael Nadal Parera (, ; born 3 June 1986) is a Spanish professional tennis player. He is currently ranked world No. 2 in singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP). He has been ranked List of ATP number 1 ranked singles tennis ...
in two close sets. At
Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...
, he defeated
Diego Schwartzman Diego Sebastián Schwartzman (, ; born 16 August 1992) is an Argentine professional tennis player. He has won four ATP singles titles and reached his career-high singles ranking of world 8 in October 2020. As a clay court specialist, his be ...
,
Kei Nishikori is an inactive Japanese professional tennis player. He is the second male Japanese player to have been ranked in the top 5 in singles (after Jiro Sato), and the only one to do so in the Open Era. Nishikori first reached his career-high singles ...
, and
Márton Fucsovics Márton Fucsovics ( hu, Fucsovics Márton, ; born 8 February 1992) is a Hungarian professional tennis player. He achieved a career-high ATP singles ranking of No. 31 on 4 March 2019. He is currently the No. 1 Hungarian player. Early life Fucs ...
before falling to
Roger Federer Roger Federer (; born 8 August 1981) is a Swiss former professional tennis player. He was ranked List of ATP number 1 ranked singles tennis players#Weeks at No. 1, world No. 1 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for 310 weeks, in ...
in three sets in the quarterfinals. Wawrinka entered the 2018 US Open as a wildcard, where he was again drawn against
Grigor Dimitrov Grigor Dimitrov ( bg, Григор Димитров, ; born 16 May 1991) is a Bulgarian professional tennis player. He has been ranked as high as world No. 3 in singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), which he first achieved on ...
in the first round. He triumphed in straight sets and advanced to the third round, defeating
Ugo Humbert Ugo Humbert (; born 26 June 1998) is a French professional tennis player. He has achieved a career-high ATP singles ranking of No. 25 on 21 June 2021. He also has a career-high ATP doubles ranking of No. 361 achieved on 14 October 2019. Humbert ...
in four sets. He then lost to
Milos Raonic Milos Raonic (; sr, Милош Раонић, Miloš Raonić, ; born December 27, 1990) is a Canadian inactive professional tennis player. He has been ranked as high as world No. 3 in singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), wh ...
in the third round. Warwinka received a wild card and entered the St Petersburg Open beating
Karen Khachanov Karen Abgarovich Khachanov (russian: Каре́н Абга́рович Хача́нов; born 21 May 1996) is a Russian professional tennis player. Khachanov has won four ATP Tour singles titles, including a ATP Tour Masters 1000, Masters 1000 ti ...
,
Aljaž Bedene Aljaž Bedene (born 18 July 1989) is a Slovenian former professional tennis player. He was a naturalised Briton and played with this nationality from 2015 to 2017, returning to represent Slovenia in 2018. Bedene has won six Futures and 16 Chal ...
and
Damir Džumhur Damir Džumhur ( ; born 20 May 1992) is a professional tennis player from Bosnia and Herzegovina. He is currently Bosnia and Herzegovina's No. 1 player. His career-best singles ranking of World No. 23 achieved on 2 July 2018, makes him the highes ...
before losing to
Martin Kližan Martin Kližan (; born 11 July 1989) is a Slovak former professional tennis player. The winner of the 2006 French Open boys' singles title, Kližan turned pro in 2007 and had a career-high singles ranking of world No. 24, achieved on 27 April ...
. He received a wildcard for the 2018 Shanghai Rolex Masters.


2019: Continued comeback, back to tournament finals, 500th career win

Wawrinka started his 2019 season at the Qatar Open, where he lost in quarterfinals to eventual champion
Roberto Bautista Agut Roberto Bautista Agut (; born 14 April 1988) is a Spanish professional tennis player. He has been ranked as high as world No. 9 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) in singles, which he first achieved on 4 November 2019. Bautista A ...
. At the
Australian Open The Australian Open is a tennis tournament held annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia. The tournament is the first of the four Grand Slam tennis events held each year, preceding the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open. Th ...
, for a second straight grand slam tournament, he was defeated by Raonic in four sets, this time in the second round. At the
Rotterdam Open The Rotterdam Open, also known by its sponsored name ABN AMRO Open, and formely known as: ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament (1991-2021), is a professional men's tennis tournament played on indoor hard courts. It is part of the ATP Tour 500 series ...
, Wawrinka reached his first tournament final in over 20 months, where he fell to
Gaël Monfils Gaël Sébastien Monfils (; born 1 September 1986) is a French professional tennis player. He has been ATP rankings, ranked as high as world No. 6 in singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), which he achieved in November 2016. H ...
in three sets, and this was followed by a three set defeat to
Nick Kyrgios Nicholas Hilmy Kyrgios ( ; born 27 April 1995) is an Australian professional tennis player. In singles, Kyrgios' career-high ATP singles ranking of world No. 13 was achieved on 24 October 2016. He has won seven ATP Tour singles titles, includin ...
in the quarterfinals of the Mexico Open. Wawrinka was seeded 24th at the
French Open The French Open (french: Internationaux de France de tennis), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a major tennis tournament held over two weeks at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France, beginning in late May each year. The tournament and ven ...
. He won his first two matches against
Jozef Kovalík Jozef Kovalík (; born 4 November 1992) is a Slovak tennis player playing mostly on the ATP Challenger Tour. Career 2010-2014 Kovalík together with Filip Horanský won bronze medal in doubles at 2010 Summer Youth Olympics. He won his firs ...
and
Cristian Garín Cristian Ignacio Garín Medone (; born 30 May 1996) is a Chilean professional tennis player. He has been ranked as high as world No. 17 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) in singles, which he first achieved on 13 September 2021, ...
before beating
Grigor Dimitrov Grigor Dimitrov ( bg, Григор Димитров, ; born 16 May 1991) is a Bulgarian professional tennis player. He has been ranked as high as world No. 3 in singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), which he first achieved on ...
for the third time in the last four majors to record his 500th career win. He then defeated Stefanos Tsitsipas in the fourth in an 'epic' five setter that lasted 5 hours and 9 minutes to advance to his first major quarterfinal in two years. However, he was eliminated by Roger Federer, the third seed, in four close sets. At the US Open, Wawrinka upset defending champion Novak Djokovic in the round of 16; Djokovic pulled out after dropping the first two sets. It was their first match since Wawrinka's victory in the 2016 US Open final. He went on to lose the quarterfinal to
Daniil Medvedev Daniil Sergeyevich Medvedev (russian: Даниил Сергеевич Медведев; born 11 February 1996) is a Russian professional tennis player. He is currently ranked world No. 7 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), and was ...
.


2020: Season curtailed by COVID-19

At the
2020 Australian Open The 2020 Australian Open was a Grand Slam tennis tournament that took place at Melbourne Park, from 20 January to 2 February 2020. It was the 108th edition of the Australian Open, the 52nd in the Open Era, and the first Grand Slam of the year. T ...
, Wawrinka beat
Damir Džumhur Damir Džumhur ( ; born 20 May 1992) is a professional tennis player from Bosnia and Herzegovina. He is currently Bosnia and Herzegovina's No. 1 player. His career-best singles ranking of World No. 23 achieved on 2 July 2018, makes him the highes ...
in four sets in the first round before defeating
Andreas Seppi Andreas Seppi (born 21 February 1984) is an Italian former professional tennis player. He reached a career-high singles ranking of world No. 18 on 28 January 2013. He became the first Italian to win a title on all three surfaces. Tennis car ...
in five sets in the second round. He then progressed to the fourth round after
John Isner John Robert Isner (born April 26, 1985) is an American professional tennis player. He has been ranked as high as world No. 8 in singles and No. 14 in doubles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP). Considered one of the best servers e ...
retired with injury and then upset
Daniil Medvedev Daniil Sergeyevich Medvedev (russian: Даниил Сергеевич Медведев; born 11 February 1996) is a Russian professional tennis player. He is currently ranked world No. 7 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), and was ...
in five sets to reach the quarterfinals. Wawrinka then lost his quarterfinal match to
Alexander Zverev Alexander "Sascha" Zverev (; born 20 April 1997) is a German professional tennis player. He has been ranked by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) as high as world No. 2, and was continuously ranked in the top 10 from July 2017 to N ...
in four sets. The 2020 French Open was then postponed to September, and Wimbledon was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Wawrinka did not participate in the 2020 US Open due to the health situation in New York, one of the worst affected states. At the
2020 French Open The 2020 French Open was a Grand Slam (tennis), major tennis tournament played on outdoor clay courts. It was held at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France. Originally scheduled for 24 May to 7 June, owing to the COVID-19 pandemic, it was firs ...
, Wawrinka defeated
Andy Murray Sir Andrew Barron Murray (born 15 May 1987) is a British professional tennis player from Scotland. He was ranked world No. 1 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for 41 weeks, and finished as the year-end No. 1 in 2016. Murray h ...
in straight sets and then followed it up with a four-set win over
Dominik Koepfer Dominik Koepfer (born 29 April 1994) is a German professional tennis player. He has achieved a career-high ATP singles ranking of world No. 50 on 10 May 2021, and a doubles ranking of No. 92 on 14 February 2022. He played college tennis at Tulan ...
in the second round. He then lost in the third round to
Hugo Gaston Hugo Gaston (; born 26 September 2000) is a French tennis player. His career high ATP ranking in singles is world No. 58, which he achieved on 11 July 2022, and in doubles is world No. 220, which he achieved on 16 May 2022. He won the 2018 Aust ...
in five sets.


2021: Hiatus due to surgery

At the
2021 Australian Open The 2021 Australian Open was a Grand Slam tennis tournament that took place at Melbourne Park, on 8–21 February 2021. It was the 109th edition of the Australian Open, the 53rd in the Open Era, and the first Major tournament of the year. It was ...
, Wawrinka defeated
Pedro Sousa Pedro Barreiros Cardoso de Sousa (; born 27 May 1988) is a Portuguese professional tennis player who competes on the Association of Tennis Professionals#ATP Tour, ATP Tour. In February 2019, he achieved a career-high singles ranking of world No. ...
in straight sets in the first round before losing to
Márton Fucsovics Márton Fucsovics ( hu, Fucsovics Márton, ; born 8 February 1992) is a Hungarian professional tennis player. He achieved a career-high ATP singles ranking of No. 31 on 4 March 2019. He is currently the No. 1 Hungarian player. Early life Fucs ...
in five sets in the second round. Following early exits in Rotterdam and Doha, he had surgery for a left foot injury. This caused him to miss the clay, grass and hardcourt seasons including the
2021 French Open The 2021 French Open was a major level tennis tournament played on outdoor clay courts. It was held at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France, from 30 May to 13 June 2021, comprising singles, doubles and mixed doubles play. The qualifiers too ...
,
Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * ...
and the North American hardcourt swing including the 2021 US Open.


2022: Return, out of top 300, ATP semifinal, 60th Top-10 win, back to top 150

Wawrinka made his return to professional tennis in March at the 2022 Andalucía Challenger, an event on the
ATP Challenger Tour The ATP Challenger Tour, known until the end of 2008 as the ATP Challenger Series, is a series of international men's professional tennis tournaments. The Challenger Tour events are the second-highest tier of tennis competition, behind the ATP T ...
. He lost in straight sets to
Elias Ymer Elias Ymer (born 10 April 1996) is a Swedish tennis player. He has a career high Association of Tennis Professionals, ATP singles ranking of World No. 105, achieved on 11 June 2018. He has a career high ATP doubles ranking of World No. 188, achi ...
in the first round. He then played at the
Monte-Carlo Masters The Monte-Carlo Masters is an annual tennis tournament for male professional players held in Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, France, a commune that borders on Monaco. The event is part of the ATP Tour Masters 1000 on the Association of Tennis Professiona ...
where he accepted a wildcard into the main draw. He lost to
Alexander Bublik Alexander Stanislavovich "Sasha" Bublik (; born 17 June 1997) is a Russian-born Kazakhstani professional tennis player. He has been ranked as high as world No. 30 in singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), which he achieved in ...
in the first round despite winning the first set. Wawrinka scored his two consecutive match wins since 2021 against
Reilly Opelka Reilly Opelka (born August 28, 1997) is an American professional tennis player. At 6 feet 11 inches tall, he is tied (with Ivo Karlović) for the tallest-ever ATP-ranked player, and can produce serves that measure over 140 mph. He has been ran ...
and qualifier
Laslo Đere Laslo Đere ( sr-Cyrl, Ласло Ђере; ; born 2 June 1995) is a Serbian professional tennis player. He is a member of the Hungarian community in Serbia. He has won two ATP Tour singles titles, one an ATP 500 Series event in Rio in 2019, af ...
at the Italian Open. He lost in the first round of the
French Open The French Open (french: Internationaux de France de tennis), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a major tennis tournament held over two weeks at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France, beginning in late May each year. The tournament and ven ...
to wildcard
Corentin Moutet Corentin Moutet (; born 19 April 1999) is a French tennis player. Moutet has a career high ATP singles ranking of world No. 51, attained on 7 November 2022. He also has a career high ATP doubles ranking of world No. 425, attained on 12 June 201 ...
in four sets. At
Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * ...
, Wawrinka lost in the first round to
Jannik Sinner Jannik Sinner (; ; born 16 August 2001) is an Italian professional tennis player. He has been ranked as high as world No. 9 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), achieved on 1 November 2021, and world No. 124 in doubles, achieved on 2 ...
in four sets. At the US Open, Wawrinka retired during his first round match against Corentin Moutet due to undisclosed reasons. At the
2022 Moselle Open The 2022 Moselle Open was a tennis tournament played on indoor hard courts. It was the 24th edition of the Moselle Open, and part of the ATP Tour 250 Series of the 2022 ATP Tour. It took place at the Arènes de Metz from 19 September to 25 Septem ...
he defeated top seed
Daniil Medvedev Daniil Sergeyevich Medvedev (russian: Даниил Сергеевич Медведев; born 11 February 1996) is a Russian professional tennis player. He is currently ranked world No. 7 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), and was ...
to reach the quarterfinals as a qualifier. Next he defeated
Mikael Ymer Mikael Ymer (born 9 September 1998) is a Swedish tennis player. He has a career high ATP singles ranking of world No. 67, achieved in March 2020. In the ATP doubles ranking his career high is No. 187, achieved in October 2017. He is currently th ...
to reach his first semifinal in more than two years. As a result he returned to the top 200 climbing more than 90 positions up the rankings. After two straight first round losses at the 2022 Astana Open and at the 2022 European Open, at his home tournament the 2022 Swiss Indoors, Wawrinka defeated world No. 3 and second seed
Casper Ruud Casper Ruud (born 22 December 1998) is a Norwegian professional tennis player. Ruud has a career-high singles ranking of world No. 2, achieved on 12 September 2022, making him the highest-ranked Norwegian tennis player in history. He has won nine ...
to record his 60th Top-10 win of his career. He became the fourth active man to record 60 Top-10 wins, and the 16th man in the
Open Era The racket sport traditionally named lawn tennis, invented in Birmingham, England now commonly known simply as tennis, is the direct descendant of what is now denoted real tennis or royal tennis, which continues to be played today as a separate sp ...
to do it. As a result he moved 25 positions up in the rankings. Next he won against
Brandon Nakashima Brandon Nakashima (born August 3, 2001) is an American professional tennis player. He has been ranked as high as world No. 43 in singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), which he achieved on 17 October 2022. On the same day, he ...
and climbed 15 positions up to the top 150 in the rankings. He also revealed he has rehired
Magnus Norman Magnus Norman (born 30 May 1976) is a Swedish tennis coach and retired professional tennis player. He reached a career-high Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) world No. 2 singles ranking on June 12, 2000. His career highlights include re ...
as his coach.


Playing style and reputation

Possessing one of the strongest one-handed
backhand The backhand is a shot used in most racket sports, such as tennis and pickleball, where the back of the hand precedes the palm when swinging the racket. Except in the phrase ''backhand volley'', the term refers to a groundstroke (where th ...
s on tour, Wawrinka is characterized as a powerful offensive baseliner capable of playing well on most surfaces, especially on clay and hard courts. He is known for his fast serve which has reached as high as 232 kilometres per hour (144 mph). His forehand, considered a weakness early in his career, has improved significantly and is now a big weapon in his game. Wawrinka is known by the nicknames "Stanimal" and "Stan the Man" for both his play style and ability to win in big matches, particularly between the 2014 Australian Open and the 2016 US Open. As analyzed in a ''New York Times Magazine'' article (2014 August 22), Wawrinka's backhand drive motion is unique in several areas: # Upon releasing the racquet to make contact with the ball, hip and body turn continues to open up the chest to face the opponent
(unlike most conventional 1HBH players that stop with the hitting shoulder facing the opponent) # Racquet face remain closed throughout the follow-though
(unlike most conventional 1HBH players that open up the racquet face during the follow-though for a lifting action) # The racquet continues the swing path to reach behind the body
(unlike most conventional 1HBH players that let the lifting action to bring the racquet above the head) Stan Wawrinka Practice (84) (26948562202).jpg, Stan Wawrinka Practice (85) great with ball dunlop fort (26974529661).jpg, Stan Wawrinka Practice (86) (26437400784).jpg, In 2013, he began working with new coach
Magnus Norman Magnus Norman (born 30 May 1976) is a Swedish tennis coach and retired professional tennis player. He reached a career-high Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) world No. 2 singles ranking on June 12, 2000. His career highlights include re ...
, who was a former world No. 2 and coached
Robin Söderling Robin Bo Carl Söderling (; born 14 August 1984) is a Swedish former professional tennis player. He reached a career-high Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) world No. 4 singles ranking on 15 November 2010. His career highlights include rea ...
to two consecutive
French Open The French Open (french: Internationaux de France de tennis), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a major tennis tournament held over two weeks at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France, beginning in late May each year. The tournament and ven ...
finals and a Masters title. This partnership has been credited with improvement in Wawrinka's overall game, who qualified for the
ATP World Tour Finals The ATP Finals is the season-ending championship of the ATP Tour. It is the most significant event in the annual ATP calendar after the four majors as it features the top-eight singles players and top-eight doubles teams based on their results th ...
for the first time the same year and ended the year in Top 10 for the first time. The following 3 years Wawrinka won 1 Grand Slam each year, qualified for Tour Finals, and also year-end World #4 in those seasons. Norman is also credited with improvement in Wawrinka's mental toughness, as seen in his performance in important matches and was evident in his victories over
Andy Murray Sir Andrew Barron Murray (born 15 May 1987) is a British professional tennis player from Scotland. He was ranked world No. 1 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for 41 weeks, and finished as the year-end No. 1 in 2016. Murray h ...
at the 2013 US Open, and
Novak Djokovic Novak Djokovic ( sr-Cyrl, Новак Ђоковић, translit=Novak Đoković, ; born 22 May 1987) is a Serbian professional tennis player. He has been ranked world No. 1 for a record total 373 weeks, and has finished as the year-end No. 1 ...
at the
2014 Australian Open The 2014 Australian Open was a tennis tournament that took place at Melbourne Park between 13 and 26 January 2014. It was the 102nd edition of the Australian Open, and the first Grand Slam tournament of the year. The tournament consisted of event ...
(both were defending champions), as well as his improved consistency, culminating in his win over No. 1
Rafael Nadal Rafael Nadal Parera (, ; born 3 June 1986) is a Spanish professional tennis player. He is currently ranked world No. 2 in singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP). He has been ranked List of ATP number 1 ranked singles tennis ...
at the 2014 Australian Open in which Wawrinka survived a fightback from Nadal to clinch the title. He also survived a fightback from No. 1 Novak Djokovic at the 2015 French Open final, being down one break of serve in the fourth set, before breaking Djokovic's service twice to clinch the title. Despite his late-career successes, Wawrinka has been mired with inconsistency throughout his career. Illustrative of this is his record against players ranked No. 1 in the world. In Grand Slam finals, he holds a 3–0 record against No. 1 players but is 2–20 in all other matches against No. 1s, with those victories coming in the semifinals of the 2017 French Open against
Andy Murray Sir Andrew Barron Murray (born 15 May 1987) is a British professional tennis player from Scotland. He was ranked world No. 1 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for 41 weeks, and finished as the year-end No. 1 in 2016. Murray h ...
and the fourth round of the 2019 US Open against
Novak Djokovic Novak Djokovic ( sr-Cyrl, Новак Ђоковић, translit=Novak Đoković, ; born 22 May 1987) is a Serbian professional tennis player. He has been ranked world No. 1 for a record total 373 weeks, and has finished as the year-end No. 1 ...
. This, combined with the 11 consecutive finals won, has given Wawrinka the reputation of being a "big-match player". Furthermore, Wawrinka is one of only two players in the Open Era to have won three Grand Slam singles titles, but never been ranked higher than No. 3, the other being
Jan Kodeš Jan Kodeš (born 1 March 1946) is a Czech former professional tennis player. A three-time major singles champion, Kodeš was one of the premier players in the early 1970s. Kodeš's greatest success was achieved on the clay courts of the French ...
.


Rivalries


Djokovic vs. Wawrinka

Wawrinka and
Novak Djokovic Novak Djokovic ( sr-Cyrl, Новак Ђоковић, translit=Novak Đoković, ; born 22 May 1987) is a Serbian professional tennis player. He has been ranked world No. 1 for a record total 373 weeks, and has finished as the year-end No. 1 ...
have played 26 times with Wawrinka trailing . Wawrinka defeated Djokovic at three Grand Slam tournaments which he won, including two finals. Wawrinka and Djokovic played in three consecutive Australian Opens (2013–2015), with each match going to five sets, a five-set match at the 2013 US Open, and a five set match at the 2006 Davis Cup. At the 2013 Australian Open, the two played each other in the fourth round with Djokovic winning 12–10 in the fifth set. Later that year at the US Open in what was Wawrinka's first career Grand Slam semifinal appearance, Djokovic won 6–4 in the fifth set. At the 2014 Australian Open quarterfinals, Wawrinka won 9–7 in the fifth set, breaking Djokovic's run of 14 consecutive semifinals in Grand Slam tournaments and ending Djokovic's 25-match winning streak at the Australian Open. Djokovic got revenge at the 2015 Australian Open, winning 6–0 in the fifth set.In the 2015 French Open final, Wawrinka defeated Djokovic in four sets to claim his second Grand Slam title and thereby become the only player apart from
Roger Federer Roger Federer (; born 8 August 1981) is a Swiss former professional tennis player. He was ranked List of ATP number 1 ranked singles tennis players#Weeks at No. 1, world No. 1 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for 310 weeks, in ...
to defeat Djokovic in the Australian Open and the French Open. Wawrinka defeated Djokovic in four sets to win the 2016 US Open singles title. At the 2019 US Open, Wawrinka once again defeated Djokovic (who at the time had won 36 of his last 37 Grand Slam matches) after Djokovic retired injured trailing two sets to love. Contrary to most high-profile rivalries, they have played doubles together and maintain a close friendship. Despite Djokovic's 20–6 overall record against Wawrinka, Wawrinka leads Djokovic 2–0 in Grand Slam finals and 3–2 in all ATP finals. Their overall head-to-head in Grand Slam matches is also split at 4–4. In Djokovic's thirteen Grand Slam finals dating from 2014 Wimbledon through the
2020 Australian Open The 2020 Australian Open was a Grand Slam tennis tournament that took place at Melbourne Park, from 20 January to 2 February 2020. It was the 108th edition of the Australian Open, the 52nd in the Open Era, and the first Grand Slam of the year. T ...
, his only two losses came at the hands of Wawrinka. Moreover, in Djokovic's 32 Grand Slam championship matches, Wawrinka is the only opponent he has not defeated and Wawrinka is one of only two opponents outside the Big Four (the other being
Daniil Medvedev Daniil Sergeyevich Medvedev (russian: Даниил Сергеевич Медведев; born 11 February 1996) is a Russian professional tennis player. He is currently ranked world No. 7 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), and was ...
) who have defeated him.


Federer vs. Wawrinka

Wawrinka and his compatriot
Roger Federer Roger Federer (; born 8 August 1981) is a Swiss former professional tennis player. He was ranked List of ATP number 1 ranked singles tennis players#Weeks at No. 1, world No. 1 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for 310 weeks, in ...
have played each other 26 times with Wawrinka trailing . Federer leads 7–1 in Grand Slam tournaments, 17–0 on hard courts, 1–0 on grass courts and 4–3 on clay courts. While the rivalry is one-sided in Federer's favour, the two of them have contested some close matches such as the 2014 Monte Carlo Rolex Masters final in which Wawrinka came from behind a set to defeat Federer in three sets to win his first Masters 1000 title. Wawrinka also defeated Federer in straight sets during the
2015 French Open The 2015 French Open was a tennis tournament played on outdoor clay courts. It was the 119th edition of the French Open and the second Grand Slam event of the year. It took place at the Stade Roland Garros from 24 May to 7 June and consisted of e ...
quarterfinals en route to winning his first ever French Open title although Federer then reversed it with a straight sets victory in the 2015 US Open semifinals. Federer defeated Wawrinka in five sets in the
2017 Australian Open The 2017 Australian Open was a tennis tournament that took place at Melbourne Park between 16 and 29 January 2017. It was the 105th edition of the Australian Open, and the first Grand Slam tournament of the year. The tournament consisted of event ...
semifinals en route to his 18th major title. Other close matches include the 2012 Shanghai Masters and the 2013 Indian Wells Masters, both of which Federer won in three sets, the 2014 Wimbledon quarterfinal which Federer won in four sets and the 2014 ATP World Tour Finals in which Federer won in three sets after saving four match points. The duo's most recent encounter took place at
2019 French Open The 2019 French Open was a Grand Slam (tennis), major tennis tournament played on outdoor clay courts. It was held at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France, from 26 May to 9 June, comprising singles, doubles and mixed doubles play. Junior and ...
with Federer prevailing in four sets. Despite their on-court rivalry, they are close friends off court and they have played doubles together on numerous occasions, most notably when they won the doubles Olympic Gold at the
2008 Beijing Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Nat ...
and when winning the 2014 Davis Cup.


Murray vs. Wawrinka

Wawrinka and
Andy Murray Sir Andrew Barron Murray (born 15 May 1987) is a British professional tennis player from Scotland. He was ranked world No. 1 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for 41 weeks, and finished as the year-end No. 1 in 2016. Murray h ...
have played 22 times with Wawrinka trailing . Murray leads 9–4 on hard courts and 3–0 on grass courts while Wawrinka leads 5–1 on clay courts. They have also met 7 times in Grand Slam tournaments and result is Stan leading 4–3. They have contested some close matches and two of their most notable matches were in the 2009 Wimbledon fourth round which Murray won in five sets and was the first men's match to be played under the Wimbledon roof, having the latest finish for a Wimbledon match at the time., and the 2017 French Open semi-final, where Wawrinka prevailed in a five-set thriller that lasted over four hours. Wawrinka also ended Murray's title defence at the 2013 US Open quarterfinals with a comfortable straight sets victory. Other close matches the two have contested include the 2010 US Open which Wawrinka won in four sets and was Murray's last defeat before a Grand Slam quarterfinal until the 2015 US Open, the 2008 Canada Open and 2011 Shanghai Masters, both of which Murray won in three sets. While Murray has led the majority of the rivalry, Wawrinka won their first two matches and beat Murray three consecutive times between 2013 and 2015, winning all of them in straight sets, until Murray ended the winning streak at the 2016 French Open, beating the defending champion Wawrinka in four sets. In the 2018 Eastbourne International, Murray won in straight sets. Around this time Wawrinka was identified by some, including Djokovic, as a potential contender to turn the Big Four tennis quartet into a "Big Five", although Wawrinka himself downplayed those suggestions, stating that he was still far behind the others. Their most recent encounter before the 2020 French Open was in the final of the European open 2019 in which Murray prevailed coming back from a set and a break down to win his first title since 2017 and his hip surgery. They met in the
2020 French Open The 2020 French Open was a Grand Slam (tennis), major tennis tournament played on outdoor clay courts. It was held at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France. Originally scheduled for 24 May to 7 June, owing to the COVID-19 pandemic, it was firs ...
first round with Wawrinka winning in straight sets. However, in the first round of the
2022 Cincinnati Masters The 2022 Western & Southern Open was a men's and women's tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts from August 15–21, 2022, as part of the US Open Series. It was a Masters 1000 tournament on the 2022 ATP Tour and a WTA 1000 tournament on ...
, Murray won in three tight sets.


Nadal vs. Wawrinka

Wawrinka and
Rafael Nadal Rafael Nadal Parera (, ; born 3 June 1986) is a Spanish professional tennis player. He is currently ranked world No. 2 in singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP). He has been ranked List of ATP number 1 ranked singles tennis ...
have played 20 times with Wawrinka trailing against Nadal. Although this rivalry has less significance than rivalries with the other members of the Big Four, the pair have met in several prestigious tournaments. The rivalry saw Nadal winning the first 12 encounters, all in straight sets, including 2 finals, one of which is a Masters 1000 final at Madrid in 2013. However, since Wawrinka's breakthrough season in 2013 the head-to-head has been slightly more even (3–6) from 2014 onward. Wawrinka scored his first win against Nadal in their first Grand Slam final, the
2014 Australian Open The 2014 Australian Open was a tennis tournament that took place at Melbourne Park between 13 and 26 January 2014. It was the 102nd edition of the Australian Open, and the first Grand Slam tournament of the year. The tournament consisted of event ...
final in 4 sets, denying Nadal's double career slam. It was also the only match between the pair not resulting in a straight set win for either player. Nadal won their second Grand Slam final, at the 2017 French Open.


Personal life

Wawrinka was born in Switzerland to a German father and Swiss mother. He holds dual Swiss–German citizenship. His father Wolfram Wawrinka, a farmer and social worker, is German of Czech ancestry. Wawrinka's paternal great-grandfather originated from
Silesia Silesia (, also , ) is a historical region of Central Europe that lies mostly within Poland, with small parts in the Czech Republic and Germany. Its area is approximately , and the population is estimated at around 8,000,000. Silesia is split ...
— the border region between Poland and the former
Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...
— and the surname originates with the Polish language. It is related to Wawrzyniec, the Polish version of
Laurence Laurence is an English and French given name (usually female in French and usually male in English). The English masculine name is a variant of Lawrence and it originates from a French form of the Latin ''Laurentius'', a name meaning "man from ...
, or
Laurentius Laurentius is a Latin given name and surname that means "''From Laurentum''" (a city near Rome). It is possible that the place name ''Laurentum'' is derived from the Latin ''laurus'' ("laurel"). People with the name include: In Early Christian ...
. Wawrinka's mother, Isabelle, an educator, is Swiss. His mother works as a biodynamic farmer helping disabled people and took over the running of his parents' farm, "Ferme du Château", near
Lausanne , neighboring_municipalities= Bottens, Bretigny-sur-Morrens, Chavannes-près-Renens, Cheseaux-sur-Lausanne, Crissier, Cugy, Écublens, Épalinges, Évian-les-Bains (FR-74), Froideville, Jouxtens-Mézery, Le Mont-sur-Lausanne, Lugrin (FR-74), ...
, which is connected with the castle of Saint-Barthélemy. The farm assists people with mild to moderate intellectual disabilities, and people with depression or drug and alcohol problems. Here Wawrinka grew up with his elder brother, Jonathan, and his two younger sisters, Djanaée and Naélla, who are students and tennis players. Wawrinka attended the
Rudolf Steiner School Waldorf education, also known as Steiner education, is based on the educational philosophy of Rudolf Steiner, the founder of anthroposophy. Its educational style is holistic, intended to develop pupils' intellectual, artistic, and practical skil ...
in
Crissier Crissier () is a municipality in the district of Ouest Lausannois in the canton of Vaud in Switzerland. It is a suburb of Lausanne. History Crissier is first mentioned in 1199 as ''Crissiaco''. In 1228 it was mentioned as ''Crissie''. Geograph ...
. In 2009, Wawrinka was living in Saint-Barthélemy, about north of Lausanne, with his wife Ilham Vuilloud, a Swiss television presenter and former fashion model. They married on 15 December 2009. Vuilloud gave birth to the couple's child, a girl named Alexia, on 12 February 2010. On 4 January 2011, Swiss media reported that Wawrinka separated from the family, less than one year after his daughter's birth. The couple later reconciled, but on 19 April 2015 Wawrinka posted a statement on his Facebook page announcing their divorce. The following day, Vuilloud strongly disputed Wawrinka's version of events. Wawrinka began dating WTA player
Donna Vekić Donna Vekić (; born 28 June 1996) is a Croatian professional tennis player and businesswoman. She has won three singles titles on the WTA Tour – at the 2014 Malaysian Open, at the 2017 Nottingham Open, and the 2021 Courmayeur Ladies Open. ...
in 2015, their relationship becoming public knowledge after
Nick Kyrgios Nicholas Hilmy Kyrgios ( ; born 27 April 1995) is an Australian professional tennis player. In singles, Kyrgios' career-high ATP singles ranking of world No. 13 was achieved on 24 October 2016. He has won seven ATP Tour singles titles, includin ...
taunted Wawrinka over it during a match at Montreal. Kyrgios was subsequently fined and given a suspended ban for his comments. Wawrinka and Vekić were reported to have split in May 2019. Wawrinka appeared in the 2015 ESPN body issue, posing nude in athletic poses. Wawrinka has a
tattoo A tattoo is a form of body modification made by inserting tattoo ink, dyes, and/or pigments, either indelible or temporary, into the dermis layer of the skin to form a design. Tattoo artists create these designs using several Process of tatt ...
on his left forearm in
italic script Italic script, also known as chancery cursive and Italic hand, is a semi-cursive, slightly sloped style of handwriting and calligraphy that was developed during the Renaissance in Italy. It is one of the most popular styles used in contemporary ...
that quotes the Irish writer
Samuel Beckett Samuel Barclay Beckett (; 13 April 1906 – 22 December 1989) was an Irish novelist, dramatist, short story writer, theatre director, poet, and literary translator. His literary and theatrical work features bleak, impersonal and tragicomic expe ...
in English: "Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try Again. Fail again. Fail better." On his right rib, he has his daughter's name. Wawrinka is a self-proclaimed "big fan" of the
Lausanne HC , neighboring_municipalities= Bottens, Bretigny-sur-Morrens, Chavannes-près-Renens, Cheseaux-sur-Lausanne, Crissier, Cugy, Écublens, Épalinges, Évian-les-Bains (FR-74), Froideville, Jouxtens-Mézery, Le Mont-sur-Lausanne, Lugrin (FR-74), ...
, his hometown
ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...
team.


Commercial endorsements

As of June 2016, Wawrinka wears Yonex clothing and shoes and uses the Yonex VCORE 95D racquet with the Yonex Vcore Duel G paint job, formerly playing with a Yonex VCORE Tour 97 paint job. Wawrinka has been known to use
Babolat Babolat is a French tennis, badminton, and padel equipment company, headquartered in Lyon, best known for its strings and tennis racquets which are used by professional and recreational players worldwide. The company has made strings since 187 ...
's RPM Blast as his string of choice, opting to string his rackets at 27 kilograms in the main strings and 25 kilograms in the cross strings. Previously, he used
Head A head is the part of an organism which usually includes the ears, brain, forehead, cheeks, chin, eyes, nose, and mouth, each of which aid in various sensory functions such as sight, hearing, smell, and taste. Some very simple animals may ...
tennis racquets, first the Flexpoint Prestige MidPlus and Microgel Prestige Pro, and then the YouTek Prestige Pro MidPlus. Wawrinka is also an ambassador for the
TGV Lyria TGV Lyria is the brand name used for TGV railway lines connecting France and Switzerland. Lyria is also a corporation that runs the service using the staff of the SNCF in France and Swiss Federal Railways (SBB CFF FFS) in Switzerland – ...
train service between France and Switzerland, with his photo appearing on the exterior of the high-speed trains.


Career statistics


Grand Slam tournament performance timeline

''Current through the 2022 US Open.'' ;Finals: 4 (3 titles, 1 runner-up)


Explanatory notes


References

*


External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Wawrinka, Stan 1985 births Living people Australian Open (tennis) champions French Open junior champions Swiss-French people Swiss male tennis players Swiss people of Czech descent Swiss people of German descent Olympic gold medalists for Switzerland Olympic medalists in tennis Olympic tennis players of Switzerland Sportspeople from Lausanne Tennis players at the 2008 Summer Olympics Tennis players at the 2012 Summer Olympics Waldorf school alumni Medalists at the 2008 Summer Olympics French Open champions Grand Slam (tennis) champions in men's singles US Open (tennis) champions Grand Slam (tennis) champions in boys' singles