Wawrinka started playing tennis at the age of eight, and played once a week until he was eleven, when he started to practice three times a week. At that time, his coach changed his backhand stroke from two-handed to one-handed. Wawrinka stopped attending regular schooling at age 15 to focus full-time on tennis. However, he continued his schooling by distance education with the French organization
CNED, which offered him greater flexibility. Wawrinka turned professional in 2002 at the age of 17. He was coached from age 8 to 25 (ending in June 2010) by Dimitri Zavialoff. Wawrinka is a three-time
major champion,
Olympic champion, and
Davis Cup champion. He achieved a top-10 ranking by the ATP for the first time in May 2008, and first reached his career peak of world No. 3 on 27 January 2014, at the same time as he became the Swiss No. 1. Wawrinka has reached four Grand Slam singles finals in his career to date, winning three: the
2014 Australian Open, the
2015 French Open and the
2016 US Open; each time he defeated the reigning world No. 1 in the final (
Rafael Nadal once and
Novak Djokovic twice, respectively). In doubles and team tennis for Switzerland, he has won a
gold medal in the
men's doubles event at the 2008 Summer Olympics, partnering with
Roger Federer, and the
Davis Cup in
2014. He is the second Swiss man to win a major after Federer. He played in the longest doubles match in history at the 2013 Davis Cup, in a tie against the Czech Republic, partnering
Marco Chiudinelli.
2002–2003: Juniors and turning pro Wawrinka started playing international junior events at age 14 and entered the satellite circuit the following year. In 2002 Wawrinka became professional. In 2003 he had his first steps on the tour and ended the year ranked No. 169. He compiled an outstanding junior career, winning the Junior French Open in
2003 and reaching as high as No. 7 in the junior world rankings in June 2003.
2004–2007: Early career and first title On 11 July, at
Gstaad, Wawrinka progressed into his first ever career final, in doubles, with
Marc Rosset as his partner. The Swiss pair lost in the final to
Leander Paes and
David Rikl. That year Wawrinka had his
Davis Cup debut with the
Swiss National Team. Wawrinka lost his first match against
Victor Hănescu in a dead rubber. Switzerland won the tie 3–2 against
Romania and progressed into the
World Group quarterfinals. He finished the year ranked No. 162 in the world rankings. Wawrinka had his
Grand Slam debut at the
French Open. He won against 22nd seed and
Olympic gold medalist Nicolás Massú in the first round, in four sets. In the second round, Wawrinka came from two sets down to defeat
James Blake. His run ended in the third round losing in four sets to the eventual runner-up
Mariano Puerta. After the French Open, Wawrinka had his first
Wimbledon experience but lost in the first round to
Fabrice Santoro in four sets. Wawrinka had his first singles final at the
Swiss Open, but lost to
Gastón Gaudio. At the
US Open, Wawrinka defeated
Rajeev Ram and Mariano Puerta in five sets before losing in the third round to Nicolás Massú. By the end of 2005, he hovered just inside the top 50. In July, Wawrinka won his first ATP title, at the
Croatia Open Umag, when his opponent in the final,
Novak Djokovic, retired through fatigue. In October, Wawrinka reached a then career-high ranking of No. 29. In the
Australian Open, Wawrinka reached the third round and was beaten by second seed
Rafael Nadal, losing in straight sets. He showed some impressive backhand skills, but was unable to deal with Nadal's heavy game. He suffered a three-month setback, tearing a tendon in his right knee while practicing for the Swiss Davis Cup team's tie against Spain in February. In the
French Open Wawrinka pushed seventh seed
Ivan Ljubičić to four sets in the second round. He also claimed wins over
Guillermo Cañas and
Juan Ignacio Chela en route to a meeting with
Rafael Nadal in the final of the
Mercedes Cup in
Stuttgart in July. Nadal defeated Wawrinka in straight sets. In the
US Open, Wawrinka reached the fourth round, a stage he had never reached previously in a
Grand Slam event, defeating 25th seed
Marat Safin in straight sets in the second round. In the fourth round, he was ousted by
Juan Ignacio Chela in five sets.
2008–2012: Top 10, first Masters final, Olympic Gold By reaching the final of the Masters Series event in Rome, Wawrinka entered the top 10 for the first time. He lost in the final to
Novak Djokovic, despite taking the opening set. In the
Olympics, Wawrinka teamed with Roger Federer in men's doubles. They beat the favoured Americans
Bob and Mike Bryan in the semifinals in straight sets; then in the final, defeated
Simon Aspelin and
Thomas Johansson of Sweden in four sets to win the gold medal. Wawrinka reached the fourth round of the
US Open, where British player
Andy Murray defeated him in straight sets. Wawrinka lost to
Rafael Nadal in the fourth round at the
Miami Masters in Key Biscayne. Nadal came from behind in both sets to beat Wawrinka in two tie-breaks. At the
Monte-Carlo Masters, Wawrinka defeated No. 2
Roger Federer in straight sets, an upset which halted the chance of a fourth straight Nadal-Federer final in Monte Carlo. At the
French Open Wawrinka defeated
Nicolas Devilder in five sets and
Nicolás Massú in straight sets. He lost to
Nikolay Davydenko in the third round in four sets. At Wimbledon, in the third round he defeated 21-year-old
Jesse Levine, who had upset
Marat Safin in the first round.
The Sunday Times reviewed Wawrinka's performance in the match by opining that he is "a strange player, clearly talented but short of match fitness and as clumsy on court as Federer is graceful." Wawrinka was defeated by
Andy Murray in five sets in the fourth round. The match was also a debut usage of the new roof on
Centre Court and was the latest match at Wimbledon, lasting until 22:37 GMT. Wawrinka played in the Davis Cup tie with Italy and won in his first match against
Andreas Seppi in straight sets. Wawrinka started his 2010 season by reaching the final of the Chennai Open, losing to
Marin Čilić in two tie-breaks. This was Wawrinka's fifth consecutive loss in an ATP final. He reached the third round at the
Australian Open, losing to Čilić again. Wawrinka returned to the ATP Tour at the Sony Ericsson Open after his wife gave birth to their daughter. He defeated
Kevin Anderson, before losing to
Mikhail Youzhny in the third round. He started his clay-court season in Casablanca at the 2010 Grand Prix Hassan II. After receiving a first-round bye, he defeated Slovakian qualifier
Martin Kližan in the second round. In the quarterfinals, he defeated wildcard
Reda El Amrani in straight sets. In the semifinals, he defeated Italian
Potito Starace in three sets to advance to his second ATP final of 2010. In the final, he defeated Romanian
Victor Hănescu in straight sets to win his second ATP Tournament. With this tournament win, he snapped a five-match losing streak in ATP finals and a 3½-year title drought. It was also the first professional singles final Wawrinka won, as his previous ATP victory occurred due to a retirement. Wawrinka became the 13th seed at the
Monte-Carlo Masters and defeated
Victor Hănescu in the first round in a rematch of the Casablanca final. He then beat Latvian
Ernests Gulbis to advance to the third round. He was defeated by
Novak Djokovic. Wawrinka reached the quarterfinals in Rome, losing to
Rafael Nadal, and the semifinals in Belgrade, losing to
John Isner. At the
French Open, where he was the 20th seed, he reached the fourth round without dropping a set, defeating
Jan Hájek in the first round. In the second round, he defeated German
Andreas Beck, and in the third round, he beat Italian
Fabio Fognini, before losing to
Roger Federer in the fourth round. at the
2010 US Open After an unsuccessful grass season, where he lost in the first round of
Wimbledon, Wawrinka separated from his coach since childhood and hired
Peter Lundgren, former coach of
Marat Safin and Federer. The partnership with Lundgren showed its benefits in the
US Open, where Wawrinka reached the quarterfinals, beating fourth seed
Andy Murray along the way. Wawrinka started off 2011 by defeating No. 6
Tomáš Berdych along the way to claiming the Chennai Open crown. Wawrinka beat
Xavier Malisse in the final in three sets. He advanced to the quarterfinals of the
2011 Australian Open, after defeating
Andy Roddick in three sets to set up an all-Swiss quarterfinal with
Roger Federer, which he lost in straight sets. He also came back from two sets and a break down to defeat
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the third round of the
French Open, before being defeated by Federer once more. Wawrinka was defeated by
Simone Bolelli in the second round of
Wimbledon and
Donald Young at the same stage of the
US Open. In September, Wawrinka announced that he had parted ways with Lundgren. He played the rest of the season without a coach. At the
Swiss Indoors tournament, Wawrinka made it to the semifinals, after defeating
Florian Mayer in the quarterfinals. In an all-Swiss semifinal, he was defeated by
Roger Federer in straight sets. Wawrinka started the season in Chennai, where he made the quarterfinals, before being defeated by
Go Soeda. At the
Australian Open, he made it to the third round, defeating
Benoît Paire and
Marcos Baghdatis, before being eliminated by
Nicolás Almagro. In his Davis Cup tie against
Mardy Fish in February, he lost in five sets. Later in February, he traveled to Buenos Aires and Acapulco, where he made to the semifinals, before losing again to Almagro and
Fernando Verdasco, respectively. In Monte Carlo, he defeated three Spaniards,
Feliciano López,
Pablo Andújar, and
Almagro, making it to the quarterfinals before losing to another Spaniard, No. 2
Rafael Nadal, the eventual champion. In doubles, he teamed with
Victor Troicki, and they made it to the quarterfinals. In Estoril, he made it to the semifinals, but was defeated by
Juan Martín del Potro. Wawrinka made the fourth round of the
French Open after defeating
Flavio Cipolla,
Andújar, and
Gilles Simon. He was defeated by
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the fourth round, once again coming from two sets down to take the match into a fifth set and recovering a 4–1 deficit in the decider before Tsonga finally prevailed. Wawrinka then had a series of first-round exits at
Wimbledon, Gstaad, and in the Summer Olympics, where he lost to the eventual gold medallist
Andy Murray. He was Team Switzerland national
flag bearer at the
Parade of Nations. He teamed with
Roger Federer again in doubles at the Olympics, but they were eliminated in the second round. He made the semifinals of the Masters 1000 event in
Cincinnati, before he was defeated by Federer, the eventual champion. Wawrinka again also played doubles with
Jarkko Nieminen, and they were eliminated in the second round. At the
US Open, Wawrinka reached the fourth round, but was forced to retire in his match against second seed
Novak Djokovic due to illness.
2013: Breakthrough Wawrinka teamed with Frenchman
Benoît Paire to win the doubles title at the
Chennai Open against the German team of
Andre Begemann and
Martin Emmrich. At the
Australian Open, he made it to the fourth round. He lost a gruelling five-set epic against
Novak Djokovic which lasted just over five hours, finally losing in the 22nd game of the fifth set. "It definitely ranks right at the top", said Djokovic, after his victory over the Swiss. "One of the longest, most interesting, and most exciting matches I have played in my career." Wawrinka stated that "It's by far my best match I ever [played], especially in five sets against the No. 1 player." (Bruguera defeated No. 1
Pete Sampras and No. 2
Jim Courier at the
1993 French Open). This was also only the second time since 2005 that a player outside of the
'Big Four' (Federer, Nadal, Djokovic, and Murray) had won a Grand Slam title, and the first since
Juan Martín del Potro won the US Open in 2009. In addition, Wawrinka became the first player to defeat both Nadal and Djokovic in a single Grand Slam tournament. He is also the second Swiss man to win a Grand Slam singles title after Federer. Due to his championship victory at the
Australian Open, Wawrinka for the first time in his career reached the top five, becoming No. 3, and the top-ranked Swiss player in the world ahead of Federer for the first time. Playing for Switzerland in the first round of the
Davis Cup against Serbia, he defeated
Dušan Lajović in four sets in the second rubber. Switzerland went on to win the tie 3–2 (after an unassailable 3–0 lead) to reach their first Davis Cup quarterfinal since 2004. After a one-month break, he next played at the
BNP Paribas Open in
Indian Wells as the third seed. In his opening round (after receiving a first-round bye due to his seeding), he overcame
Ivo Karlović in straight sets. In the third round, he defeated
Andreas Seppi dropping only two games. In the fourth round, his 13-match winning streak from the start of the season came to an end against
Kevin Anderson. At the
Miami Masters, he made it to the fourth round after defeating
Daniel Gimeno Traver and
Édouard Roger-Vasselin, before losing to an in-form
Alexandr Dolgopolov. Wawrinka returned to Switzerland's Davis Cup team for their quarterfinal against Kazakhstan. Wawrinka was beaten in his first match by
Andrey Golubev, then (after Federer had levelled the tie by beating
Mikhail Kukushkin) he and Federer lost their doubles match to Golubev and
Aleksandr Nedovesov. However, Wawrinka then came from a set down to beat Kukushkin and level the match again. Federer won the deciding rubber to send Switzerland to the semifinals, where they would play Italy. At the
Monte-Carlo Masters, Wawrinka crushed
Marin Čilić in the second round, losing only two games in the process. He then received a walkover in the third round to
Nicolás Almagro. In the quarterfinal, Wawrinka defeated
Milos Raonic in straight sets to secure his second semifinal appearance in the principality. Wawrinka defeated
David Ferrer in the semifinals to become one of the few players to reach the finals of all 3 Masters tournament on clay. The stage was set for the first all-Swiss final in fourteen years, as he would take on his friend
Roger Federer. In the first set, Federer secured an early break and prevented any chances of Wawrinka breaking and closed out the opener. However, Wawrinka fought back to take a close second set in a tiebreak, and after that, Wawrinka gained the momentum. He did not relinquish his advantage, winning his first Masters 1000 title on his third attempt. In doing so, Wawrinka took over the top spot in the 'Race to London'. Thus far, Wawrinka had defeated Djokovic, Nadal, and Federer that season, whom he had a 2–15, 0–12, and 1–13 record respectively, coming into the 2014 season. However, Wawrinka had less success in his next two tournaments, losing in the second round in Madrid to
Dominic Thiem and the third round of Rome to
Tommy Haas. Wawinka then suffered a first-round defeat to
Guillermo García López in the
French Open. Later that month, Wawrinka participated in the
Aegon Championships, knocking out
Marcos Baghdatis,
Sam Querrey, and
Marinko Matosevic without dropping a set, before losing to eventual champion
Grigor Dimitrov in the semifinals. Wawrinka was seeded fifth for
Wimbledon due to the tournament's seeding process being a combination of world ranking and recent grass court form, meaning Wawrinka (who had lost in the first round the previous two years) was seeded lower than No. 5
Andy Murray and No. 4
Roger Federer as they had won the title the previous two seasons. Wawrinka proceeded to have his best-ever run at the tournament, reaching the quarterfinals for the first time, dropping just one set in the process. He faced Federer in the first all-Swiss men's quarterfinal in Wimbledon history, losing in four close sets. Wawrinka was seeded third for the US Open due to Nadal's withdrawal. He reached his fifth Grand Slam quarterfinal from the last seven tournaments, defeating
Tommy Robredo in four sets in the fourth round, having survived set points in the third-set tiebreaker. He was eventually beaten by finalist
Kei Nishikori in five sets. Wawrinka lost in early-round matches at three consecutive tournaments in October. At the
Japan Open Tennis Championships, he was seeded first, but was defeated in the first round in straight sets by
Tatsuma Ito of Japan, then ranked No. 103 on the
ATP tour. The following week at the
Shanghai Rolex Masters tournament, he was seeded fourth, but was defeated in three sets by unseeded
Gilles Simon in the second round, after having had a
bye in the first round. He was up a break in the third set against Simon, but won only one of the final five games. At the time, Wawrinka was ranked No. 4 and Simon No. 29 on the ATP rankings. In Basel, he was beaten in the first round by
Mikhail Kukushkin in three sets. At the Paris Masters 1000, Wawrinka recorded his first win since the US Open against
Dominic Thiem. However, he fell in three tight sets to
Kevin Anderson in the next round. Wawrinka had a good run in the ATP World Tour Finals, where he beat
Tomáš Berdych and
Marin Čilić. He lost to Djokovic in the next round-robin match, but progressed to the semifinals. In the semifinals, he faced No. 2 Roger Federer, and after 2 hours he had four match points but failed to convert any of them and lost in three sets. After the match, reports emerged that Federer and Wawrinka had a heated discussion lasting for 10 minutes in the gym at the O2, after officials reportedly told them to resolve their differences after a flare-up in the tunnel. The spat was reportedly caused by
Mirka Federer's calling Wawrinka a crybaby. The pair appeared as friends though when they met for the Davis Cup final. In the final against France, Wawrinka gave his country the perfect start by defeating
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in four sets. Wawrinka then teamed up with Federer to win the doubles rubber and give Switzerland a 2–1 lead going into the final day. The match ended a sequence of four doubles rubbers losses for the pair, and it was their first win together on clay. Wawrinka did not play on the final day, as Federer sealed the tie, by beating Gasquet in straight sets for Switzerland's first Davis Cup title. With the win, Wawrinka became the first player since
Andre Agassi in 1992 to win his first Grand Slam title and first Davis Cup in the same season.
2015: French Open champion In January, Wawrinka was crowned champion of the
Chennai Open for the third time running, winning against Slovenian player,
Aljaž Bedene in the final, after a win against No. 22
David Goffin. At the
Australian Open he reached the semifinals again by beating
Kei Nishikori in straight sets. In his semifinal, Wawrinka lost to
Novak Djokovic in five sets, bringing an end to his Australian Open title defence. As a result of failing to defend his title, Wawrinka dropped from No. 4 in the
world rankings pre-tournament to No. 9 post-tournament. On 15 February, he prevailed over
Tomáš Berdych in three sets to win the title at the
ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament. He next competed at the
Open 13 in Marseille, where he reached the quarterfinals, losing to
Sergiy Stakhovsky. He then competed at the
Indian Wells Masters, where he lost to
Robin Haase in his opening match, after receiving a first-round bye. He next played the
Miami Masters in Miami, losing to
Adrian Mannarino in straight sets in the third round. As defending champion at the
Monte-Carlo Masters, Wawrinka lost to
Grigor Dimitrov in the third round. He later lost in the third round at the
Mutua Madrid Open, again to Dimitrov. In the
Rome Masters, Wawrinka reached the semifinals before being defeated by Federer in straight sets. Wawrinka next competed in the
French Open, as the 8th seed. He beat
Marsel İlhan and
Dušan Lajović in three and four sets, respectively, before beating
Steve Johnson and
Gilles Simon in straight sets to reach the quarterfinals, and defeated compatriot
Roger Federer in straight sets to reach his first Roland Garros semifinal. This was also Wawrinka's first win over Federer in a major tournament. Winning in four sets against
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the semifinals, he earned his second appearance in a Grand Slam final, this time against top seed
Novak Djokovic. He defeated Djokovic in four sets, after being down a break in the fourth set and 0–40 in a subsequent game. He broke Djokovic's service twice in the set, reeling off six of the final seven games of the match. With this victory, Wawrinka claimed his second Grand Slam tournament title, and Djokovic failed to win a personal career Grand Slam. Wawrinka's French Open championship also denied Djokovic the 2015 calendar year Grand Slam, as Djokovic won all other Grand Slam tournaments that year. Mirroring his victory at the
2014 Australian Open, Wawrinka was seeded 8th at this tournament, defeated the 2nd and 1st seeds in the quarterfinals and finals, respectively, clinched the championship match in four sets, and rose five positions in the
ATP rankings, back to the No. 4 position, which was his original position at the beginning of the year. This was also the 2nd time since
Sergi Bruguera at the
1993 French Open that the champion defeated No. 1 (Novak Djokovic) and No. 2 (Roger Federer) players in the same grand slam (Wawrinka also accomplished this feat at the 2014 Australian Open). Wawrinka is the first man to win Roland Garros after losing in the first round in the previous year since
Albert Costa in 2002, and the first former boys' champion to win the men's title since
Mats Wilander in 1982. Wawrinka exited from
Queen's Club as the Swiss bowed out of the
Aegon Championships in the second round, against eventual runner-up
Kevin Anderson. He reached the quarter finals of
Wimbledon, the furthest he had ever reached, matching his result from last year, but was ousted by
Richard Gasquet in a five-set thriller, despite being up two sets to one. Wawrinka continued his dominant Grand Slam form at the
US Open, with wins over
Albert Ramos,
Chung Hyeon,
Ruben Bemelmans,
Donald Young. He then beat South African
Kevin Anderson in straight sets in the quarterfinals to advance to the semifinals, where he was dispatched in straight sets by
Roger Federer. Wawrinka then helped Switzerland advance to the Davis Cup World Group with a five-set win over Dutchman
Thiemo de Bakker in Geneva. He then competed in the
Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championships, entering as the first seed. Wawrinka avenged his loss to
Tatsuma Ito at the same tournament the previous year by defeating him in the second round. He eventually advanced to the finals, where he beat
Benoît Paire in straight sets and won his fourth title of the season. Wawrinka then entered the
Shanghai Rolex Masters, where he defeated former US Open champion
Marin Čilić in a three-set battle before losing in straight sets to Rafael Nadal in the quarterfinals. Playing in the
Paris Masters, Wawrinka avenged his previous loss to Rafael Nadal in Shanghai with a two set victory. In the semifinals, Wawrinka lost to Novak Djokovic in a three set match. He then matched his performance at the
ATP World Tour Finals the previous year by reaching the semifinals in London with round-robin wins over
Andy Murray and
David Ferrer. In the semifinals, Wawrinka played Roger Federer for the fifth time in the 2015 season, losing in straight sets.
2016: 400th career win, US Open champion Wawrinka started his season at the
Chennai Open where he was the two-time defending champion and 1st seed. He started against young wildcard
Andrey Rublev. He won in straight sets. Then he played 5th seed
Guillermo García López. He also won in straight sets. In the semifinal he played against 3rd seed and good friend
Benoît Paire. He won another straight sets match. In the final he played 8th seed and young talent
Borna Ćorić. He successfully defended his title without dropping a set the entire tournament. He then played in the
Australian Open where he was the 4th seed. He started against
Dmitry Tursunov who was here on a protected ranking. Wawrinka won the first two sets before
Tursunov had to retire due to injury. He then played qualifier
Radek Štěpánek where he won in straight sets. He then proceeded to the third round where he played
Lukáš Rosol. He also won in straight sets to mark his 400th career win. Then in the fourth round he played big serving Canadian and 13th seed
Milos Raonic. Despite pushing it to a fifth set he was unable to overcome the Canadian and lost. It also snapped Wawrinka's streak of 6 consecutive quarterfinals or better appearances in Grand Slams. Wawrinka then played in the
Open 13 as the 1st seed. He started against
Sergiy Stakhovsky who had defeated him here last year. He won after saving a few matchpoints. He then proceeded to the quarterfinals. He had a disappointing loss to good friend
Benoît Paire. Wawrinka then played in the
Dubai Tennis Championships as the 2nd seed. He won against
Sergiy Stakhovsky, qualifier
Franko Škugor and
Philipp Kohlschreiber. In the semifinals
Nick Kyrgios retired in set two. In the final he played surprise finalist
Marcos Baghdatis and won in straight sets. He then played in the first masters 1000 of the year at the
Indian Wells Masters as the 3rd seed. Wawrinka beat
Illya Marchenko and
Andrey Kuznetsov but lost to 15th seed
David Goffin in a third set tiebreak. At the
Miami Open Wawrinka lost in the first round to
Andrey Kuznetsov. Next up was the
Monte-Carlo Masters with wins against
Philipp Kohlschreiber and
Gilles Simon. He then suffered a two set loss to the eventual champion,
Rafael Nadal. Wawrinka then suffered another first round exit at the
Madrid Open to
Nick Kyrgios. He then competed at the
Rome Masters as the 4th seed. He had a three set win against
Benoît Paire but then had a three set loss to Juan Mónaco, who was here with a protected ranking. At the
Geneva Open Wawrinka had two easy wins against
Albert Ramos Viñolas and
Pablo Carreño Busta, and a three set victory over
Lukáš Rosol. In the final he played
Marin Čilić. He won his 3rd title of the year with a tight straight sets win. His next tournament was the second major of the year, the
French Open, as the 3rd seed and the defending champion. Against
Lukáš Rosol Wawrinka was down two sets to one, but came through in five sets. Wins over
Taro Daniel,
Jérémy Chardy and
Viktor Troicki sent Wawrinka to the quarterfinals, where he dispatched
Albert Ramos Viñolas in straight sets. In the semifinals he played 2nd seed
Andy Murray. He lost in four sets. He then played at Queens in the Aegon Championships as the second seed. However he suffered a straight sets defeat to No. 53 Fernando Verdasco in the first round. His next tournament was at the
Wimbledon Championships, as the 4th seed. In the first round he faced
Taylor Fritz and won in four sets. However, he was beaten in the second round by
Juan Martín del Potro on the comeback in four sets. After missing the
Olympics due to a back injury, Wawrinka played at the Cincinnati Masters. However, he would lose to Grigor Dimitrov in two sets in the third round. Prior to the start of the U.S. Open, Wawrinka returned to the Top 3 in the
ATP rankings due to Roger Federer being unable to defend his title in Cincinnati due to injury. In the first round he faced
Fernando Verdasco, beating the Spaniard in straight sets. He then faced qualifier
Alessandro Giannessi, also winning in three sets. He then played a four-hour match in the third round against British player
Daniel Evans, which saw Wawrinka save a match point in the fourth set tiebreak, before beating Evans in five sets. He then defeated
Illya Marchenko in four sets in the fourth round. In his fourth consecutive quarterfinal appearance at the U.S. Open, he defeated
Juan Martín del Potro in four sets. He defeated
Kei Nishikori in the semifinals in four sets and went on to defeat Novak Djokovic in four sets to win the 2016 U.S. Open, his third major title in as many years and his eleventh consecutive win in a championship final. With this victory, Wawrinka improved his record to 2–0 in major finals against Djokovic and he remained the only player to defeat Djokovic in Djokovic's twelve Grand Slam finals dating back to
the 2014 Wimbledon championships. Much as Wawrinka's
2015 French Open victory denied Djokovic the 2015 calendar year Grand Slam, his win at this tournament denied Djokovic claiming three Grand Slam victories in successive years (2015 and 2016). Wawrinka defeated the No. 1 player in the finals of all three of his grand slam titles. The 2016 US Open final was the only match that year in which Djokovic won the first set but lost the match (53–1). He then entered
St Petersburg Open, and reached the final, losing to rising teenager
Alexander Zverev Jr. in 3 sets. This gifted Zverev his first ATP World Tour title and also snapped Wawrinka's streak of 11 consecutive finals won. Wawrinka did not achieve more notable results for the rest of the season, losing to
Gilles Simon in the third round of
Shanghai Rolex Masters,
Mischa Zverev in the quarterfinals of
Swiss Indoors, and
Jan-Lennard Struff in the second round of
Paris Masters after holding matchpoint. Wawrinka then played his final tournament of the season at the
ATP World Tour Finals, and for the first time failed to make to the semifinals, losing his first round robin match in straight sets to
Kei Nishikori, then beating
Marin Čilić in 2 tiebreaks, and losing to No. 1
Andy Murray in straight sets. As a result of this and
Milos Raonic reaching the semifinals, Raonic overtook Wawrinka as No. 3 at the conclusion of the tournament. Wawrinka would finish the season as No. 4 for the third straight year.
2017: French Open finalist, knee injury To start his 2017 campaign, Wawrinka chose not to defend his Chennai Open title (he had won the previous 3 editions), and played in Brisbane instead. He reached the semifinals, losing to No. 5 Kei Nishikori in straight sets. At the
Australian Open he barely escaped a first round exit by beating Slovakian player
Martin Kližan after being down a break in the 5th set. He then played
Steve Johnson and beat him in straight sets and played
Viktor Troicki in the third round, winning in four sets. In the fourth round, he played Italian
Andreas Seppi, beating him in three tight tiebreaks to progress to the quarterfinals. He then beat 12th seed
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in three sets, to set up a semifinal against his compatriot and 17th seed
Roger Federer. Wawrinka lost the all-Swiss clash, recovering from a two sets to love deficit and holding numerous breaking points in the opening games of 5th set only to ultimately lose 3–6. Federer went on to
win the tournament. Despite the loss this result elevated Wawrinka back to No. 3. Wawrinka was then upset by
Damir Džumhur in the first round of the
Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships in straight sets. At the
Indian Wells Masters, Wawrinka was seeded 3rd. After receiving a bye, his first two matches included victories over
Paolo Lorenzi and
Philipp Kohlschreiber. In the fourth round, Wawrinka came from down a set to beat lucky loser
Yoshihito Nishioka in the third set tiebreak after Nishioka served for the match twice. He then beat
Dominic Thiem in three sets to reach his ninth ATP Masters 1000 semifinal. He defeated first-time Masters semifinalist
Pablo Carreño Busta in straight sets to reach his first final at Indian Wells, as well as his first Masters final on hard court. He was defeated by
Roger Federer in the final in straight sets. Wawrinka was notably the only person to break Federer's serve during the entire tournament, after he broke Federer's opening service game in the second set. At the
Miami Masters Wawrinka was the top seed at a Masters 1000 tournament for the first time in his career, after No. 1
Andy Murray and No. 2
Novak Djokovic both withdrew due to elbow injuries. He was defeated in the fourth round by
Alexander Zverev Jr. in three sets. At the French Open, Wawrinka defeated Jozef Kovalík, Alexandr Dolgopolov, Fabio Fognini, Gaël Monfils and Marin Čilić in straight sets. In a rematch of last year's semifinal he played Andy Murray in the semis. However this year Wawrinka was victorious in five sets. In the final he was defeated by Nadal in straight sets, his first loss in a major final. Wawrinka then entered
Wimbledon with the chance to complete his career Grand Slam, but lost his opening match against
Daniil Medvedev, a Russian player who was making his Wimbledon debut, in four sets. There was speculation that Wawrinka had an injured knee, and Wawrinka confirmed it by announcing that he would be taking time off to heal. On 4 August 2017, Wawrinka announced that he would undergo surgery to repair the damage on his knee, and that he would miss the remainder of the 2017 tennis season.
2018: Continued injuries, return to tour He made his return to the tour at the
2018 Australian Open, where he lost in the second round to
Tennys Sandgren in straight sets. His next tournament was the
Sofia Open, where he lost in the semifinals to
Mirza Bašić. Then he entered the
ABN AMRO World tournament, where he lost in the first round to wildcard
Tallon Griekspoor. His next tournament was the
Open 13 in Marseille, France. He retired during his first match, trailing
Ilya Ivashka by one set, at 1–1 during the second set because of his knee injury. After missing almost three months due to his injury, Wawrinka returned in the
2018 Italian Open but lost in the first round to
Steve Johnson in straight sets. He then played at the
2018 Geneva Open where he was the two-time defending champion but his title defense ended in a straight sets defeat to
Márton Fucsovics in the quarterfinals. In the
2018 French Open, he was seeded 23rd, but lost in the first round to
Guillermo García López in five sets, which made him drop from 30 to 263 in the rankings. He entered
Queens as a wildcard, losing to fifth seed
Sam Querrey in the second round. He gained entry to
Eastbourne as a wildcard, where, in the first round, he played
Andy Murray, who was playing just his second tournament after a year-long absence from the sport. Wawrinka lost in straight sets. Wawrinka was unseeded at
Wimbledon, but upset 6th-seed
Grigor Dimitrov in the first round in four sets. He then lost to
Thomas Fabbiano in straight sets. Entering
Washington as a wildcard, he narrowly lost to
Donald Young in the first round. He also received wildcard entry to the
2018 Rogers Cup, where he defeated 16th seed
Nick Kyrgios in the first round and
Márton Fucsovics in the second before being defeated by top seed and eventual champion
Rafael Nadal in two close sets. At
Cincinnati, he defeated
Diego Schwartzman,
Kei Nishikori, and
Márton Fucsovics before falling to
Roger Federer in three sets in the quarterfinals. Wawrinka entered the
2018 US Open as a wildcard, where he was again drawn against
Grigor Dimitrov in the first round. He triumphed in straight sets and advanced to the third round, defeating
Ugo Humbert in four sets. He then lost to
Milos Raonic in the third round. Warwinka received a wild card and entered the
St Petersburg Open beating
Karen Khachanov,
Aljaž Bedene and
Damir Džumhur before losing to
Martin Kližan. He received a wildcard for the
2018 Shanghai Rolex Masters.
2019: Comeback, two finals, 500th career win Wawrinka started his 2019 season at the
Qatar Open, where he lost in quarterfinals to eventual champion
Roberto Bautista Agut. At the
Australian Open, for a second straight grand slam tournament, he was defeated by Raonic in four sets, this time in the second round. At the
Rotterdam Open, Wawrinka reached his first tournament final in over 20 months, where he fell to
Gaël Monfils in three sets, and this was followed by a three set defeat to
Nick Kyrgios in the quarterfinals of the
Mexico Open. Wawrinka was seeded 24th at the
French Open. He won his first two matches against
Jozef Kovalík and
Cristian Garín before beating
Grigor Dimitrov for the third time in the last four majors to record his 500th career win. He then defeated Stefanos Tsitsipas in the fourth round in an 'epic' five setter that lasted 5 hours and 9 minutes to advance to his first major quarterfinal in two years. However, he was eliminated by Roger Federer, the third seed, in four close sets. At the
US Open, Wawrinka upset top seed and defending champion Novak Djokovic in the round of 16; Djokovic pulled out after dropping the first two sets. It was their first match since Wawrinka's victory in the 2016 US Open final and marked his third win over Djokovic when he was No. 1 and fifth career win overall over a world No. 1. He went on to lose the quarterfinal to
Daniil Medvedev.
2020: Season curtailed by COVID-19 At the
2020 Australian Open, Wawrinka beat
Damir Džumhur in four sets in the first round before defeating
Andreas Seppi in five sets in the second round. He then progressed to the fourth round after
John Isner retired with injury and then upset
Daniil Medvedev in five sets to reach the quarterfinals. Wawrinka then lost his quarterfinal match to
Alexander Zverev in four sets. The 2020 French Open was then postponed to September, and Wimbledon was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Wawrinka did not participate in the
2020 US Open due to the health situation in New York, one of the worst affected states. At the
2020 French Open, Wawrinka defeated
Andy Murray in straight sets and then followed it up with a four-set win over
Dominik Koepfer in the second round. He then lost in the third round to
Hugo Gaston in five sets.
2021: Hiatus due to surgery At the
2021 Australian Open, Wawrinka defeated
Pedro Sousa in straight sets in the first round before losing to
Márton Fucsovics in five sets in the second round. Following early exits in Rotterdam and Doha, he had surgery for a left foot injury. This caused him to miss the clay, grass and hardcourt seasons including the
2021 French Open,
Wimbledon and the North American hardcourt swing including the
2021 US Open.
2022: ATP semifinal, 60th Top-10 win, back to top 150 Wawrinka made his return to professional tennis in March at the
2022 Andalucía Challenger, an event on the
ATP Challenger Tour. He lost in straight sets to
Elias Ymer in the first round. He then played at the
Monte-Carlo Masters where he accepted a wildcard into the main draw. He lost to
Alexander Bublik in the first round despite winning the first set. Using protected ranking, Wawrinka scored his first two consecutive match wins since 2021 against
Reilly Opelka and qualifier
Laslo Djere at the
Italian Open and next lost in the first round of the
French Open to wildcard
Corentin Moutet in four sets. At
Wimbledon, where he received a wildcard, Wawrinka lost in the first round to
Jannik Sinner in four sets. At the
US Open, using protected ranking, Wawrinka retired during his first round match against Corentin Moutet due to undisclosed reasons. At the
2022 Moselle Open he defeated top seed
Daniil Medvedev to reach the quarterfinals as a qualifier. Next he defeated
Mikael Ymer to reach his first semifinal in more than two years. As a result he returned to the top 200 climbing more than 90 positions up the rankings. After two straight first round losses at the
2022 Astana Open and at the
2022 European Open both as a wildcard, at his home tournament the
2022 Swiss Indoors, using protected ranking, Wawrinka defeated world No. 3 and second seed
Casper Ruud to record his 60th Top-10 win of his career. He became the fourth active man to record 60 Top-10 wins, and the 16th man in the
Open Era to do it. As a result he moved 25 positions up in the rankings. Next he won against
Brandon Nakashima and climbed 15 positions up to the top 150 in the rankings. He also revealed he has rehired
Magnus Norman as his coach.
2023–2025: 70th major event, third-oldest ATP semifinalist In 2023, Wawrinka completed his first full season since 2019. In this season, he achieved his most number of matches played since 2019, highest win percentage since 2020, and reached his first ATP final since 2019. At the Grand Slam level, Wawrinka reached the third round for the first time since 2020 with his wins against
Tomás Martín Etcheverry at
Wimbledon and
New York in the second round, before losing in straight sets to eventual finalist
Novak Djokovic and in four sets to
Jannik Sinner, respectively. He concluded his year ranked world No. 49, his highest ranking since 2020. Wawrinka began his 2023 season at the inaugural
United Cup, leading Team Switzerland into the group stage in
Brisbane, Australia. He won his first match against
Alexander Bublik of Kazakhstan but lost his next match against
Hubert Hurkacz of Poland, both in straight sets, ultimately becoming unsuccessful to progress to the host city and elimination stage. His Australian season ended in
Melbourne, with a first round loss to
Alex Molčan in five sets. Back in Europe, Wawrinka participated in the
first round of Davis Cup Qualifying round for Team Switzerland against Team Germany in
Trier, Germany. He lost his first match to
Alexander Zverev in straight sets but followed this up with a three-set win against
Daniel Altmaier which allowed Switzerland to progress to the
Davis Cup Finals group stage in September. In
Rotterdam, Wawrinka defeated
Bublik and
Richard Gasquet for his first tour-level quarterfinal of the year. He lost his match to eventual finalist
Jannik Sinner in straight sets but improved his ranking to world No. 105. At his next tournament in
Marseille, he followed up with a quarterfinal appearance following three-set wins against
Zizou Bergs and
Richard Gasquet, before losing in straight sets to
Arthur Fils. With his run, he returned to the top 100.With his win over
Holger Rune in
Indian Wells, he reached the fourth round of a Masters-level tournament for the first time since 2020 and at Indian Wells since 2017. He lost to eventual semifinalist
Jannik Sinner. During the European Spring clay season, he reached the second round of all Masters tournaments at
Monte-Carlo,
Madrid, and
Rome, losing to
Taylor Fritz,
Andrey Rublev, and
Grigor Dimitrov, respectively. He also entered into the ATP 250 tournament in
Banja Luka, losing in the first round to
Luca Van Assche, and the
Bordeaux Challenger where he reached the quarterfinals following a win over
Andy Murray. In
Paris, he matched his previous year's result at the second round, before losing to
Thanasi Kokkinakis in five sets. Following Paris and Wimbledon, he returned to the Swiss clay in Gstaad, losing to Jaume Munar in straight sets. In doubles, Wawrinka teamed up with compatriot
Dominic Stricker and the pair went on to lift the trophy on home soil. His run in
Umag included his first ATP final since 2019, defeating
Filip Misolic,
Federico Coria,
Roberto Carballes Baena, and
Lorenzo Sonego. After winning the first set in a tiebreak, he was defeated by
Alexei Popyrin in three sets. By reaching the final, he ascended to World No. 49. At the
2024 Australian Open he lost to
Adrian Mannarino. Next he played in
Indian Wells also losing to
Tomáš Macháč in three close sets. At the
2024 French Open, he recorded his
70th Grand Slam participation, tied for fifth place with
Fabrice Santoro, with a win over
Andy Murray in straight sets. Ranked outside the top 150, Wawrinka received a main draw wildcard for the
2024 US Open, the
2024 China Open, and finally at the
2024 Rolex Shanghai Masters where he lost to
Flavio Cobolli in a second round match with an umpire scoring error. At 39 years old, as the oldest tournament quarterfinalist ever at the
2024 Stockholm Open, Wawrinka reached the semifinals defeating top seed
Andrey Rublev to get his first top 10 win since August 2023. He became the third-oldest semifinalist in the ATP history (since 1990), behind
Jimmy Connors and
Ivo Karlovic. At the
2024 Swiss Indoors Wawrinka became the oldest match winner in the tournament history, defeating Adrian Mannarino as a wildcard, for the first time, having lost to him three times previously. Wawrinka was a wildcard entry to the main draw of the
2025 Australian Open, but lost in the first round to
Lorenzo Sonego. Aged 40 at the
2025 Țiriac Open where he received a wildcard, Wawrinka defeated
Timofey Skatov to record his first win since October 2024, making him the third 40-year-old to win an ATP Tour or Grand Slam match on clay since 1980 joining Jimmy Connors and Ivo Karlovic. Wawrinka was awarded a wildcard into the main-draw at the
2025 French Open and at the
2025 Wimbledon Championships.
2026: Final year On December 19, 2025, Wawrinka announced that 2026 will be his last season on the ATP Tour. ==Playing style and reputation==