French Open 2026: Stan Wawrinka waves emotional goodbye after first-round loss

The 2015 French Open champion, Stan Wawrinka, waved an emotional goodbye to his final Roland Garros on Monday (May 25) after a four-set first-round defeat to Jesper de Jong. The Swiss tennis legend, who announced his retirement plan at the end of the season, hoped for a final swansong in Paris, only to bow out in the first round. Wawrinka suffered defeat in just over three hours, despite having won the second set 3-6, 6-3, 3-6, 4-6 to his Dutch opponent.

The 41-year-old was presented with a glass case containing a section of a clay court and two videos (tribute to his career) displayed on big screens around the stadium. Tennis legends, including Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and even Novak Djokovic, among other superstars, paid tribute to the multi-time Grand Slam winner.

"It's hard, I don't want to say goodbye to you here," Wawrinka said, before also thanking the people who work behind the scenes at the tournament. "Unfortunately, it's my last match at Roland Garros, but thank you."

"Me too, I love you," he added in response to cries from the spectators of 'we love you, Stan'.

"Thanks to all your support, I wanted to go on as long as possible, to 41 years of age, to continue living moments like this."

Despite the mercury tipping over 30C, there were few empty seats to spare on Court Simonne Mathieu to see the hugely-popular former world number three appear for the final time on the red dirt in Paris.

A crushing forehand by De Jong earned the 106th-ranked player the crucial break to get ahead 5-4 in the fourth set. His every point roared on by the crowd, Wawrinka forced a break-back opportunity, but his best efforts to prolong his stay in Roland Garros, which at one moment left him lying panting on his back, were in vain as De Jong battled into the second round.

"To be honest, it's not about me today," the 25-year-old said. "Funny story about Stan, he was playing against my coach when I was a ball kid!

"It's all about Stan today."

(With inputs from AFP)