“I want to keep going”: Stan Wawrinka responds to calls for retirement after series poor results

Switzerland’s veteran tennis star Stan Wawrinka has responded to criticism from fans regarding his recent performances. The 39-year-old has been going through a rough patch and has found it hard to produce consistent results on the court.

In 2024, Wawrinka lost five times in his opening fixture of an event out of the competitions he participated in, which led to some quarters of the fans asking him to retire from professional tennis. While responding to such queries, the three-time Grand Slam winner stated that he would like to respond on the court and still has a lot of passion for the sport.

“I’ve been on tour for 20 years and of course when I get to 39 years old and I’m 80 in the world, for sure people will ask me the question and I have no problem with that,” he said. “It’s just the way I want to answer it and the way I want to prove that I still want to be there. At the end of the day, I decide what I’m going to do with my tennis career. And as much as I enjoy what I’m doing, I’m passionate about that, I still feel competitive to play some big matches and to win some good matches, I want to keep going because it’s a chance to be still playing at that level. And I think it’s also a good example for the young kids, you want to show them that it’s not because you get older that the passion has to disappear.”