Stan Wawrinka doesn't want to play tennis for weeks and months, but for years to come, he said recently in Paris
Image: Keystone
A year ago, Wawrinka lost in the 3rd round of the US Open in four sets to Jannik Sinner, the current world number 1
Image: Keystone
Wawrinka must defend these 90 world ranking points from the previous year, otherwise he will fall further down the rankings
Image: Keystone
Eight years ago, Wawrinka celebrated the third of his three Grand Slam tournament victories in the final against Novak Djokovic at the US Open
Image: Keystone
Dominic Stricker is also under huge pressure at the US Open. A year ago, he defeated Stefanos Tsitsipas in New York and scored 205 world ranking points to qualify for the round of 16. This year, Stricker has only won one singles match on the tour and only 53 ATP points in total
Image: Keystone
Stan Wawrinka doesn't want to play tennis for weeks and months, but for years to come, he said recently in Paris
Image: Keystone
A year ago, Wawrinka lost in the 3rd round of the US Open in four sets to Jannik Sinner, the current world number 1
Image: Keystone
Wawrinka must defend these 90 world ranking points from the previous year, otherwise he will fall further down the rankings
Image: Keystone
Eight years ago, Wawrinka celebrated the third of his three Grand Slam tournament victories in the final against Novak Djokovic at the US Open
Image: Keystone
Dominic Stricker is also under huge pressure at the US Open. A year ago, he defeated Stefanos Tsitsipas in New York and scored 205 world ranking points to qualify for the round of 16. This year, Stricker has only won one singles match on the tour and only 53 ATP points in total
Image: Keystone
Only three Swiss players at the US Open - fewer than ever before in the modern era. And Stan Wawrinka and Dominic Stricker only make it into the main draw through the back door. Both are under pressure in New York.
Stan Wawrinka won the US Open eight years ago - with a victory over Novak Djokovic in the final. Some people say that this final was one of the best tennis matches of all time. Because of this triumph, Stan Wawrinka is considered an icon of Swiss sport and is allowed to compete again at the US Open with a wild card, an invitation from the organizer. His world ranking (178) would no longer allow him to do so.
Stan the Man" is still regarded as an attraction. At the Olympic Games in Paris, he overcrowded the outdoor courts. When he leaves the court, as he did recently at Roland-Garros, he receives an ovation and recognition from the crowd. Because no one can be sure of seeing the 39-year-old play again.
"I keep playing for these emotions," said Wawrinka in Paris. Looking ahead, he is not talking about weeks or months, but years that he still hopes to play.
Still an attraction
Nevertheless, it is clear that things can suddenly happen very quickly. At 39, the body is considered susceptible to injury. What's more, Wawrinka has often lost this season. He has won 5 matches and lost 11. He has failed in the first round of a tournament seven times. Wawrinka is no longer ranked in the top 200 in the annual rankings and is in danger of dropping out of the top 250 at the US Open.
Wawrinka did not play after the Olympic Games. He traveled to the USA early and trained on hard courts. He had himself photographed naked on the tennis court for the ESPN magazine "The Body Issue" (like John Isner and Tomas Berdych before him). A week before the start of the tournament, "Stan the Man" was one of the main attractions at the Fan Fest.
Hoping for a break
Three years ago, Wawrinka was only just in the top 150 and made it back into the top 50 again. He still has the confidence to do so. Wawrinka has also not missed the fact that Alexei Popyrin, with whom he recently fought a "bataille" on equal terms on the clay in Paris, won the Masters 1000 tournament in Montreal a week later with three victories over top 10 players.
The draw was kind to Wawrinka. In the starting round, the Vaud native will face a qualifier, the Italian Mattia Bellucci (ATP 102), who did not drop a set in three matches in qualifying. His opponent in the 2nd round could be Chilean Nicolas Jarry, the world number 26. And in the 3rd round, he could face Jannik Sinner, the world no. 1. A year ago, Wawrinka played his way into the 3rd round and lost to Sinner in four sets. Wawrinka has never played as well as he did at the 2023 US Open since then.
If Wawrinka cannot replace these points, he will fall back to around 254th place in the world rankings. January 2018 was the last time the long-time world number 3 (in the era of Djokovic, Nadal, Federer, Murray!) held a top 10 spot. Since then, he has descended ever lower in the world rankings ladder. Wawrinka can count on further wildcards with his palmarès. But a serious continuation of his career will be very complicated for a professional at the age of 40 with a ranking outside the top 200.
Stricker has to prove himself
Dominic Stricker has also been waiting exactly one year, since the 2023 US Open, for a major success. This week, the player from Bern celebrated his first win of the year (!) on the ATP Tour.
A year ago, Stricker's star seemed to be rising in Flushing Meadows. The pictures of him beating Stefanos Tsitsipas, reaching the round of 16 and singing along to Whitney Houston's "I wanna dance with somebody" as he changed sides went around the world. But since then, Stricker has only won a total of three singles matches on the tour in Basel (quarter-final) and this week in Winston-Salem (round of 16). Back problems started to affect the Bernese player in November.
In Flushing Meadows, Stricker only made it into the main draw thanks to a protected ranking (due to the injury break). His current ranking would not even have been enough to qualify directly. Stricker's camp says that "Dominic is finally ready to attack again". However, if Stricker loses his opening match at the US Open against the Argentinian Francisco Comesana (ATP 108), he will lose 205 of his current 353 world ranking points (including Winston-Salem). Stricker has only scored 53 ATP points this season, which is only good enough for 522nd place in the annual rankings.
From now on, Dominic Stricker will have to prove that he can use his undoubted talent to make a living from tennis.
