At 41 years old, three-time major champion Stan Wawrinka is not interested in going on a ceremonial farewell tour.
As he demonstrated at the 2026 Australian Open, when he became the oldest man since 1978 to reach the third round, the second-ranked Swiss player of all-time is going to fight until the last point is won or lost.
On Monday, he lost a 7-5, 7-5 decision to Argentine Sebastian Baez in the Monte Carlo Masters and bid farewell to Monaco. He will retire at the end of the 2026 ATP season.
Wawrinka won his only ATP 1000 title over countryman Roger Federer on the clay in Monaco a dozen years ago.
“Of course these days and weeks are really, really difficult, but in the end it’s worth it,” Wawrinka said after the setback. “I’m passionate about the sport. I love what I do. I know it’s my last year trying to do the best I can. Hopefully I can win a few matches this year to enjoy that feeling of winning.
“I managed at one point in my career to really reach the maximum I could by winning for four years, winning Grand Slams, winning Masters 1000s, winning other tournaments. But in the end, for me, it’s the love of the game and the passion that allowed me to do that every day consistently and have a goal.”
Wawrinka got out to a 4-1 first-set lead, but dropped two of his next three service games and the opening set. He fell behind 5-1 in the second set, but, in typical fashion, did not give up, breaking Baez twice to even the proceedings. But the Argentine countered with a break and wrapped up the match on his serve.
Four of the five seeded players in action on Monday advanced to the second round. Only 12th-seeded Russian Karen Khachanov fell, dropping a 7-5, 6-2 decision to France’s Arthur Rinderknech.
Tenth-seeded Flavio Cobolli of Italy outlasted Argentine Francisco Comesana, 7-5, 2-6, 6-3; No. 11 Jiri Lehecka of the Czech Republic got past Emilio Nava, 7-6 (1), 6-7 (8), 6-2; No. 13 Russian Andrey Rublev edged Portugal’s Nuno Borges, 6-4, 1-6, 6-1 and 16th-seeded Argentine Francisco Cerundolo knocked off Greece’s Stefanos Tsitsipas, 7-5, 6-4.
In other first round matches, Belgium’s Zizou Bergs defeated France’s Adrian Mannarino, 6-4, 6-3; Chile’s Cristian Garin overwhelmed Italy’s Matteo Arnaldi, 6-2, 6-4; Tomas Machac of the Czech Republic prevailed over Germany’s Daniel Altmaier, 6-4, 1-6, 6-3, qualifier Alexander Blockx of Belgium upset Canada’s Denis Shapavalov, 6-4, 4-6, 6-3; Brazilian phenom Joao Fonseca dismissed Canada’s Gabriel Diallo, 6-2, 6-3 and Poland’s Valentin Vacherot rallied past Argentina’s Juan Manuel Cerundolo, 5-7, 6-2, 6-1.
–Field Level Media
