{"id":470977,"date":"2026-02-12T21:37:11","date_gmt":"2026-02-12T21:37:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/470977\/"},"modified":"2026-02-12T21:37:11","modified_gmt":"2026-02-12T21:37:11","slug":"stan-wawrinka-takes-solace-from-incredible-life-given-by-tennis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/470977\/","title":{"rendered":"Stan Wawrinka takes solace from incredible life given by tennis"},"content":{"rendered":"

Stan Wawrinka<\/a> admitted it was \u201ctough to leave like that\u201d after his 6-4, 6-2 defeat to Alex de Minaur at the ABN AMRO Open<\/a>, in what marked his final appearance at the Rotterdam event with retirement looming.At the level he wanted to produce, Wawrinka conceded he fell short on the night, but the result did little to overshadow his long and emotional connection with the tournament<\/a>.\u201cAt the level I wanted to be playing, it was tough to leave like that,\u201d he said to the media including TennisUpToDate<\/a>. \u201cBut I first played here in 2005, so it was more than 20 years ago. I\u2019ve had the opportunity to create some amazing memories, from winning, but also off the court with the fans and the people here. I\u2019ve always had so much support. It\u2019s been a great journey to be able to come back here one more time.\u201dWawrinka not done yet<\/p>\n

The Swiss veteran received a warm tribute on court, and he made clear how much that support has meant to him over the years.<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, of course,\u201d he said when asked if he felt the love from the fans. \u201cFor me, that\u2019s also why I always try to come back as many times as possible. There\u2019s so much support. Even on the practice courts there are always a lot of people coming to watch, and I really appreciate that. I\u2019m really grateful for all of it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite the defeat, Wawrinka can take encouragement from his position back inside the Top 100 in the live rankings, a milestone he views as a positive sign as he continues his final chapter on tour.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe year is not finished, the goal is to see where I am at the end of the year,\u201d he said. \u201cBut it\u2019s always positive to see yourself getting back in the Top 100. Hopefully I can keep playing well and stay competitive. Tonight was not my best match, but it\u2019s OK. I\u2019m happy with what I did yesterday and I\u2019m looking forward to the next few months.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Mental health struggles throughout career<\/p>\n

Now 20 years on from his first appearance in Rotterdam, Wawrinka reflected on the physical and mental demands of life at the top of the sport, and the importance of keeping perspective.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m always open. If they want to talk to me, they can always talk to me, of course the fans too,\u201d he said, when asked about supporting other players through mental struggles. \u201cIf you want to be an athlete at the highest level, it\u2019s going to be difficult, mentally, physically, tennis-wise as well. You need to be ready for that, but you also need to see all the good things. It\u2019s an amazing life. We\u2019re lucky to be playing tennis around the world in amazing facilities. At the end of the day, as much as it can be difficult and it\u2019s not easy to get there, there\u2019s so much positive to take from this. We are lucky.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Stan<\/p>\n

Stan Wawrinka during his final ABN AMRO Open.<\/p>\n

Even in what is expected to be his final year on tour, the competitive fire still burns.<\/p>\n

\u201cYes, I\u2019m always trying to get better,\u201d he said. \u201cIn general, I\u2019m trying to push myself physically and tennis-wise as well. I\u2019m trying to improve my ranking and get more wins. I\u2019ll see where I am in three months.\u201d<\/p>\n

As for what tennis will mean to him once he eventually steps away, Wawrinka admitted he is not yet ready to fully reflect.<\/p>\n

\u201cOf course, I remember all those years,\u201d he said. \u201cBut as long as I\u2019m not finished yet, I need to close the book before coming back and thinking about that chapter of my life. Of course, I will have so much positive to take from it. Like I said, I\u2019ve been lucky to be a tennis player, to travel the world, to play here in Rotterdam, to play in different cities and tournaments. When you\u2019re young, you dream about being a professional tennis player. When you achieve that, you need to take the positive from it.\u201d<\/p>\n

For Rotterdam, and for Wawrinka, the final chapter at the ABN AMRO Open may have ended in defeat, but it closed on a note of gratitude, perspective and appreciation for a career that has spanned more than two decades.<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Stan Wawrinka admitted it was \u201ctough to leave like that\u201d after his 6-4, 6-2 defeat to Alex de…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":470978,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[442],"tags":[191664,6733,49,48,82,78221,593],"class_list":["post-470977","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tennis","tag-abn-amro-open","tag-atp","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-sports","tag-stan-wawrinka","tag-tennis"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/470977","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=470977"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/470977\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/470978"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=470977"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=470977"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=470977"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}