Stan Wawrinka made his feelings known about getting a wild card for the Australian Open 2026. He is currently gearing up for the upcoming match at the United Cup 2026, which is being held at the RAC Arena in Perth and Ken Rosewall in Sydney.
Wawrinka began the last season of his career on a strong note at the United Cup 2026. He opened his season with a win against Arthur Rinderknech. He produced a dominant performance, securing a 5-7, 7-6(5), 7-6(5) win. His second match was against Favio Cobolli, which the latter won, and his most recent match was on January 7 against Argentina’s Sebastian Baez.
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The Swiss’s opponent claimed the win, securing a 7-5, 6-4 win. However, his team has advanced to the semi-final after Belinda Bencic defeated Solana Sierra in the quarterfinal match. Following the match, Wawrinka sat for a press conference, where he was asked about his wild card entry update at the upcoming Australian Open.
Stating that he is not much concerned about receiving the wild card to the Grand Slam and is currently happy with where he is, he said:
“I think, like I said already yesterday or two days ago, I’m super happy if I get one. I want to play one more time. Of course, it’s my last year. Amazing memories from there, but I’m so grateful I received one last year. Wild card, it’s a wild card. I had one job to do if I wanted to play one more time was to be in the top 100, and I’m not,” said Stan Wawrinka.
He added:
“So far I’m happy we are here in Perth. We did amazing week. Enjoying that with the team. Going to Sydney, playing there again. Next week I’m going to play Auckland. Got the wild card there. I’m happy where I am right now, and I’m not worried too much about what’s going to happen in Melbourne.”
Bencic recently made her frustration clear over Stan Wawrinka for not yet receiving the Australian Open 2026 wild card.
Stan Wawrinka made his feelings known about his quarterfinal clash against Sebastian Baez
In the aforementioned interview, Stan Wawrinka fielded questions surrounding the ins and outs of his match against Sebastian Baez. When asked about his thoughts on the match, he said that it was a ‘tough’ showdown.
Lauding his opponent, he said that he has improved a lot and was putting ‘more pressure’ during the match. Admitting the mistakes he made during the match, he said:
“Yeah, it was a tough match, of course. I think he played well. He went for it. He didn’t surprise me, because I did practice with him before starting here, the week, and with Magnus, my coach, we saw that he improved a lot compared to last year. He was putting more pressure. It was more difficult,” said Stan Wawrinka.
He added:
“Tonight I missed few opportunity to come back or to take the lead. I was thinking a little bit too much on what to do, but mainly because he was putting so much pressure on me, and he was always doing the right thing and always there. So credit to him for playing that well tonight.”
Stan Wawrinka announced in 2025 that he will be retiring after the 2026 season. After this announcement, he received multiple emotional reactions from his on-court rivals, including Gael Monfils, Juan Martin del Potro, and more.
Edited by Tushhita Barua
