Quarterfinals Five Setters And Fighting Finishes The Best Of Stan Wawrinka At Wimbledon

Stan Wawrinka has graced Wimbledon for the last time.

Playing in his final season on tour at age 41, he pushed former finalist Matteo Berrettini to the absolute limit in a four-hour, 19-minute first-round marathon, pushing each of their four sets to tiebreaks, and bowing out with a gloriously heartbreaking scoreline of 6-7(7), 7-6(16), 7-6(7), 7-6(5).

The All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club have long been his kryptonite and Achilles heel. His heavy one‑handed backhand and powerful baseline game have always translated less consistently to the grass surface, which tends to reward serve-and-volley or fast-slicing patterns of players like fellow Swiss Roger Federer who made the venue their own.

But as much as Wawrinka has lost and struggled, he has enjoyed memorable wins, 23 of them, and he retires from Wimbledon with a 23-19 record of more wins than losses that few professionals can boast of.

A 20-year-old Wawrinka made his very first Wimbledon main draw appearance in 2005, marking the start of his 19-appearance relationship with the tournament. He showed early glimpses of his fighting spirit by battling past Fabrice Santoro in a tough four-set opening match before bowing out to future runner-up Andy Roddick in the second round.

In 2009, Wawrinka survived an unforgettable, chaotic five-set thriller against Jesse Levine in the third round. Played in fading light on the old Court 1, he raged, raged against the dying of the light and dug deep to claw back from a set down to secure a 5-7, 7-5, 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 win. It was perhaps the first taste of his sheer grit for the British audience, and firmly established him as a fan-favourite for years to come.

Back-to-back quarter-final appearances proved that "Stan the Man" could dominate on grass just as he could on hard or clay courts. In 2015, Wawrinka stormed into the final eight without dropping a single set. What followed was an instant classic against Richard Gasquet. The two backhand maestros engaged in a brutal baseline war that stretched deep into a fifth set, with Gasquet finally edging out Wawrinka 11–9 in the deciding set.

Wawrinka’s deepest-ever run at Wimbledon peaked with a blockbuster against his close friend and countryman, Roger Federer. After defeating Tommy Robredo to reach his first-ever Wimbledon quarter-final, Wawrinka took on Federer on Centre Court in the first-ever all-Swiss men's quarter-final in tournament history. Wawrinka took the opening set before King Roger rallied to win 3-6, 7-6(5), 6-4, 6-4.

Wawrinka’s final career match at the All England Club tops the list for its pure drama, heart, and high level of tennis. The entire match was decided by four consecutive, nerve-wracking tiebreaks: 6-7(7), 7-6(16), 7-6(7), 7-6(5). The second set saw an astronomical 34-point tiebreak where Wawrinka held six set points but eventually lost 16–18. He left Court One to a roaring, emotional standing ovation from fans celebrating his iconic legacy.

Wimbledon never embraced Wawrinka the way it fit his compatriot Federer like a glove, whose balletic grace and elegant playing style endeared him so to the British tennis audience. But “Stan the Man”, as he became fondly remembered during his career, was always a mentality monster, always a fighter, always reluctant to surrender to a straight-sets defeat without first landing some blows of his own. It was the fight that he relished, and it was poetic that he retired the same way he played — closely and viciously, tooth-and-claw and entertaining to the end.