"I’m of course close to the end": Stan Wawrinka hits at retirement in near future after French Open first-round defeat

Switzerland’s veteran tennis star Stan Wawrinka has admitted that he is closing towards retirement. The 40-year-old, who is a three-time Grand Slam winner, suffered a first-round defeat at the French Open 2025 to Britain’s Jacob Fearnley in straight sets with a score of 7-6, 6-3, 6-2.

The result in Paris marks the continuation of a poor season for Wawrinka at the highest level, where he has only managed to win one match out of eight and suffered defeats on seven occasions. The former world number three, while talking to the media after the match, admitted that he is edging closer to retirement. However, the 2015 French Open winner also stated that he has no intention of stopping right now, as, according to him, he is still playing ‘some good tennis’.

“I’m here in front of you after losing first round of French Open,” he said. “Yeah, I’m of course close to the end. I’m not stopping now. That’s for sure. I’m getting closer each week. In general, I still play some good tennis. I still move well. I still enjoy doing that. The losses are getting more difficult to swallow. It’s always about balance with all the sacrifice and everything you’re doing to be at that level. You need to have some wins on the other side. So far I’m not getting too many wins, not enough. We’ll see what’s gonna come in the next few weeks.”

It was the third consecutive Grand Slam at which Wawrinka suffered a first-round defeat. He lost in the opening round fixture at the US Open in 2024 to Italy’s Mattia Bellucci in straight sets with a score of 6-4, 7-6, 6-3. Earlier this year at the Australian Open, Wawrinka suffered a defeat to Italy’s Lorenzo Sonego in the round of 128 with a score of 6-4, 5-7, 7-5, 7-5.