Pete Sampras, the player Stanislas Wawrinka grew up idolizing, handed him his maiden Grand Slam trophy at the 2014 Australian Open. If that wasn’t gratifying enough, Sampras later said he wished he had Wawrinka’s backhand.
Cracking up in response, Wawrinka told the Men’s Journal, “Yeah, and I want his trophies.”
Though he couldn’t match Sampras’ trophy count, Wawrinka drew public admiration nevertheless for his fighting spirit, as also that graceful-yet-powerful one-handed backhand.
Twenty-one years after making his Majors debut at Roland Garros, ‘Stan the Man’ played his last Grand Slam match on Tuesday. The setting was Flushing Meadows, where he had won his third (and last) title in 2016.
Wawrinka very nearly didn’t get a goodbye to the US Open. After arriving in New York, he learnt that the final men’s singles wild card this year had gone to home hope Patrick Kypson. The former world number three returned to Switzerland, but Kypson soon withdrew with an injury. Wawrinka, offered a wild card as an eleventh-hour replacement, made the trip back to America.
Stan Wawrinka, of Switzerland, returns the ball to Matteo Berrettini, of Italy, during the first round of the U.S. Open tennis championships Monday, Aug. 31, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
He was rewarded with an outpouring of love as thousands lined up at the Grandstand court. Wawrinka lost to Matteo Berrettini 7-6 (7-4), 7-6 (7-3), 6-0 and received an emotional send-off. “I’m very grateful for this wild card. It was very important for me to finish here, where I won a Grand Slam 10 years ago. I want to thank you all for all these years,” he said at the post-match ceremony.
Having made his US Open main draw debut in 2005, Wawrinka developed a special affinity towards the city over the years. “I remember the first time I came here. It was impressive for me to feel the New York vibe and the energy of this tournament.
“Because of you (the fans) I really enjoyed it and I found a way to play my best tennis here… One of the reasons I played until 41 was to live these moments,” he added.
Rare backhand
Like Sampras, Wawrinka did not start off one-handed with his backhand as a kid. In both cases, it was the coach who intervened. “I was 11 years old, and my two-handed backhand was terrible. I couldn’t put one ball in,” Stan recalled to the US Open website in 2024.
“At that time, my coach told me to try the one-handed backhand. It’s not easy when you’re young to play with a one hand because you don’t have the same power, but it looks more natural, so I was happy with the change.”
The stroke evolved to be counted among the most feared on tour. Besides the elegance with which he struck it, Wawrinka used it to virtually bully his opponents on court. His victims include the then Big Three – Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal – leading to a golden run between 2014 and 2016 where ‘Stanimal’ scalped the reigning world number one for each of his three Major titles.
The one-handed backhand has become a rarity today. Only five players in the men’s top 100 (Lorenzo Musetti, Denis Shapovalov, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Daniel Altmaier and Aleksandar Kovacevic) use it. If none of them makes the semis at US Open 2026, it would be the first calendar year ever without at least one one-handed backhander in the last four of a Grand Slam.
Wawrinka remains bullish about the endangered shot anyway. “There will always be one-handed backhands,” he told Prakash Amritraj on Tennis Channel during the Monte Carlo Masters in April. “Always.”
Stan Wawrinka, of Switzerland, gestures to the crowd after he lost to Matteo Berrettini, of Italy, during the first round of the U.S. Open tennis championships Monday, Aug. 31, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger)
The increasingly physical nature of the sport is why the shot is in a minority, he feels. “Players play really hard from both sides now. So, of course, it’s easier to get the two-handed backhand.” But he still expects some younger player or the other to always be “at the top of the game.”
Self-effacing
Two days before Wawrinka’s farewell, Federer was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame. The Swiss duo had won an Olympic gold in Beijing together, and Stan said it was “really, really special” to watch his compatriot be honoured this way. Also present at the Federer induction was another famously elegant single-handed backhand of yore – Gabriela Sabatini.
But when asked about his own Hall of Fame chances, Wawrinka was typically self-effacing. “I absolutely don’t decide for that. It’s my last year. I’m trying to finish in the best way possible,” he told reporters after his last Slam outing.
Wawrinka has lost 15 of the 22 matches he has played so far this season. He has not won any ATP title in the last eight years, and is unlikely to add to his 16-strong tally when he hangs up his racquet. But that might not matter for the lad who grew up working on his parents’ farm in Lausanne. He wants to be remembered for “always trying to give, always trying to fight, always showing up”.