Stan Wawrinka, 41, beat Spain’s MartÃn Landaluce 6-3, 6-7(2), 7-6(5) in the first round of the Lyon ATP 250, converting his fifth match point after Landaluce saved three at 6-5 in the decider. The Swiss wild card meets top seed Flavio Cobolli next.
Lyon, France: It took two hours and 46 minutes, two tie-breaks and a deciding set without a single break of serve. Wawrinka, ranked 140th and in the draw on a wild card, outlasted Landaluce, the world No. 67 and a 20-year-old, on the indoor hard courts of the Grand Prix Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes on Wednesday.
A tie-break that went the other way
Wawrinka took the first set 6-3 and looked the stronger player. The second set tightened. Wawrinka had chances to break, but Landaluce saved five break points, and the tie-break that decided it belonged to the Spaniard, 7-2.
The decider followed the same pattern. Again nobody broke, and the match slid towards a second breaker.
Five match points to finish
Wawrinka served for the match at 6-5 and reached match point three times. Landaluce saved all three. The tie-break that followed went to Wawrinka 7-5, and he closed it on the fifth match point of the contest.
Afterwards he said he was satisfied above all with the win, admitting that he had held many match points and had come close to losing. He also said he was happy to be playing in Lyon for the first time. It was the pair’s first meeting on the ATP Tour; they had met before at Challenger level.
The farewell run
The result keeps alive a career that is nearly over. Wawrinka, a former world No. 3 and a three-time Grand Slam champion, with titles at the Australian Open in 2014, the French Open in 2015 and the US Open in 2016, is due to end his career at the Swiss Indoors Basel, an ATP 500 on home soil that runs from 24 October to 1 November, with a farewell evening scheduled for Monday 26 October at 6pm. His Grand Slam goodbyes are already behind him: he lost to Matteo Berrettini in four tie-breaks at Wimbledon and again in straight sets at the US Open, his final Grand Slam match.
The ATP Tour noted that he has now won 12 matches since turning 40, more than any other player in the history of the tour at that age, ahead of Ivo Karlović with nine and Jimmy Connors with eight.
Cobolli next
The second round brings a far sterner test. Top seed Flavio Cobolli, who enters the draw at that stage, awaits on Thursday. Whatever happens, Basel remains the destination for a farewell that Lyon has just extended by at least one more match.
Result: Stan Wawrinka (SUI, wild card) bt MartÃn Landaluce (ESP) 6-3, 6-7(2), 7-6(5) (2h 46m), Grand Prix Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes (ATP 250), Lyon, first round, Wednesday 21 October 2026.
Next: Wawrinka v Flavio Cobolli (1), second round, Thursday.
