Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal send messages to Stan Wawrinka as he plays his last-ever Roland Garros match
Stan Wawrinka’s final-ever Roland Garros came to an early end as the Swiss legend was beaten in four sets in the first round by Jesper de Jong.
The 41-year-old is set to retire at the end of the season, and his time at Roland Garros, a tournament he famously won in 2015, is officially over as an active player.
Wawrinka was originally set to play Arthur Fils in the first round, but his withdrawal meant de Jong entered the tournament as a lucky loser.
The Swiss star was not able to capitalise on playing the lesser-ranked player as he fell to a 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 defeat on Court Simonne-Mathieu.
After the defeat, Wawrinka was given a farewell ceremony and several top players, including Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner, sent kind words via video message to the Swiss icon.
Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal both sent a video message to Wawrinka following his last ever match at the French Open.
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“Ciao Stanley, congratulations for your career and especially what you did when you won Roland Garros. It was extraordinary winning in the final against Novak,” said Federer.
“It’s a memory I’ll never forget and it was a pleasure to share so much time on the Tour with you over your career. I hope you celebrate properly, this final Roland Garros I hope you feel all the love and you enjoy everything up to the end of the year and your career. I’m really impressed by what you achieved. Enjoy the moment. See you soon, old man.”
Wawrinka and Federer played doubles together frequently throughout their careers, and the pair won an Olympic Gold Medal together at the Beijing 2008 Games.
Nadal, meanwhile, also sent a message to his former rival, detailing their early relationship with each other as juniors and throughout their careers.
“Many congratulations on your amazing career. We grew up together. We joined the tour more or less at the same time,” said the King of Clay in a video message.
“So have been a pleasure to share all those years with with you and yeah I think uh you made unforgettable career. So many congrats for that and I wish you all the very best in the in the future.”
The Swiss star fared very poorly against both Federer and Nadal throughout his career. He won just three of his 22 matches against Nadal in his career. He picked up the same number of victories against Federer in their 26 matches together between 2005 and 2019.
In just six months time, Wawrinka will join Federer and Nadal by retiring from the sport.
