Stan Wawrinka’s professional career ended in Basel on Tuesday evening, as the 41-year-old lost 7-5, 7-6(2) to eighth seed Jiri Lehecka in the first round of the Swiss Indoors. The three-time Grand Slam champion played his final match on home soil.
Basel, Switzerland: The last shot was a backhand that drifted wide. The home crowd groaned, then roared its approval. After a career that stretched across roughly two decades, Stan Wawrinka had no more points left to play, and he walked off the St. Jakobshalle court knowing there would be no sequel.
A final match that stayed tight
Lehecka was always going to be a hard draw. The Czech took the opening set 7-5 and then held firm as Wawrinka pushed the second into a tie-break. There the match slipped away, Lehecka winning it 7-2. It was the kind of tight, high-quality contest that suited the occasion.
The result closed a farewell that Basel had been building all week. The day before, the tournament had given him an hour-long tribute on Centre Court. Before that, he had extended his season in Lyon by converting a fifth match point against Martín Landaluce.
Tears, thanks and a smile
The emotion arrived in the on-court interview. Wawrinka thanked the crowd, his family, his friends and his team, and he was visibly tearful while smiling at the fans. He said he was sad but happy, called ending his career in front of his own people the perfect ending, and praised Lehecka as a very good player who had been better in the decisive moments.
A tribute video aired on Tennis TV after the match. In it, Alex de Minaur described Wawrinka as one of the purest ball-strikers the game has seen, while commentator Robbie Koenig said he had given everything to the sport. Wawrinka himself said the only way to leave tennis is without regrets.
What Wawrinka leaves behind
Wawrinka announced last December that 2026 would be his final season on tour. He retires with three Grand Slam titles, each won by beating the reigning world No. 1 in the final: Rafael Nadal at the 2014 Australian Open, then Novak Djokovic at the 2015 French Open and the 2016 US Open. He won 16 tour-level singles titles and reached a career-high ranking of world No. 3.
His achievements also stretch beyond individual trophies. Partnering Roger Federer, he won men’s doubles gold at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, and he was part of the Switzerland side that won the country’s first Davis Cup title in 2014. His peak run came between 2014 and 2016, when he beat the biggest names of the era on the biggest stages.
For Basel, the ending was bittersweet. The tournament had never given Wawrinka a title, and Tuesday’s defeat did not change that. But the evening gave Swiss tennis the farewell it wanted, at the tournament where he made his debut 23 years ago, with the home crowd to see him off.
Lehecka moves into the second round.
Result: Jiri Lehecka (CZE, 8) bt Stan Wawrinka (SUI) 7-5, 7-6(2), Swiss Indoors Basel (ATP 500), first round, St. Jakobshalle, Tuesday 27 October 2026. Wawrinka’s final professional match.
