Stan Wawrinka loses again in the first round in Melbourne: 4:6, 7:5, 5:7, 5:7 against Lorenzo Sonego. The Frenchman can no longer win at his former favorite tournament.
14.01.2025, 14:24
14.01.2025, 14:25
SDA
No question: Stan Wawrinka put in a strong performance against Lorenzo Sonego. Two months before his 40th birthday, the Frenchman even played phenomenally well at times - much better than most of last year and much better than a world number 156. During the four sets and three and a quarter hours, he only made 13 unforced errors! "That was a good match on my part. I can build on that. But it's still very disappointing that I didn't win," said Wawrinka in an interview with Swiss television.
"Good match"
Because at the end of the day, what counts is what's on the scoreboard. And the scoreboard again showed that it just wasn't enough for Wawrinka.
Maybe that was it for Stan Wawrinka in Australia. Will he qualify again in a year's time? Or will he be invited again (like this year)? Will he still be playing at all? Or will Wawrinka retire at some point this season after one of his favorite tournaments? Perhaps after Roland-Garros? Or after the Swiss Indoors?
Stan Wawrinka is still pushing such thoughts far away, at least outwardly. He wants to try again. He wants to play better than last season. He wants to live in the present, because "here and now, it doesn't matter what happened in the past". Wawrinka is of the opinion that the preparation went well and that he is ready for the new season. "But I'm also a realist. I know my age and what I can expect from myself," he said in Melbourne. The fact that his family accompanied him to Australia also has to do with the fact that "you don't know whether this is the last year I'll be playing tournaments".
Inefficiency
It's not just his opponents that are playing against Wawrinka, but also his age. Stamina and stamina were once among Stan's greatest qualities. In his prime, he occasionally beat Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal in fifth sets. It's a different story now. Wawrinka has won just five of the last 21 matches over three or more sets since the 2023 US Open. Ten years ago, Stan lost just nine of 42 such matches.
This inefficiency is particularly evident at the Australian Open. In 2014, Wawrinka won his first Grand Slam title in Melbourne as Stanislas. Four months later, he officially changed his first name to Stan. Year after year, he scored enough points at the January tournaments in Chennai (three tournament wins) and Melbourne to cement his top 50 status in the first month of the season. Since 2021, when he missed three match points in the second round against Marton Fucsovics in the match tiebreak and still lost, everything has gone against Wawrinka in Melbourne.
Good sign
In 2022, an injury prevented him from competing. In 2023, he missed two match points against Slovakia's Alex Molcan (ATP 53) and lost in five sets. A year later, he was leading 2:1 against Adrian Mannarino, who was ranked No. 19 in the world at the time, and had a break lead in the fourth set before his physical condition collapsed.
This year against Sonego, Wawrinka did not collapse over 3:13 hours - certainly a good sign for the next tournaments. After a false start, Wawrinka fought his way back into the match by winning the second set. In the third, a second weak service game cost him the set despite having the advantage. And in the fourth set, Wawrinka had three chances to level the score at 5:4, 40:0.
"A maximum of tournaments"
However, the luck of the brave was on Lorenzo Sonego's side. The best example of this was the rally in the eleventh game of the third set, when Wawrinka had all the advantages on his side, but in the end the Italian made the groundbreaking break with a passing shot from a full run with his back to the court. However, "Stan the Man" does not want to explain the defeat with luck or bad luck: "I had my chances in sets three and four. I didn't take them because Lorenzo (Sonego) played more courageously at those moments. He also served a little better. That's why he deserved to win. I now hope that I can start winning matches again very quickly."
To this end, Wawrinka wants to play "a maximum number of tournaments". He is hoping for wildcards in Montpellier and Marseille. Otherwise, he is also prepared to take the detour via qualifying tournaments or Challenger events.
