‘So much love’: Stan Wawrinka bids adieu to Roland Garros

PARIS – Former French Open champion Stan Wawrinka admitted that saying goodbye to the clay-court Grand Slam was the hardest moment of his last year on tour, as he bowed out of his 21st and final Roland Garros on May 25.

The 41-year-old Swiss will hang up his racket at the end of the current season and had hoped for one last swansong at the Major he won in 2015 but his farewell was cut short in the first round.

Wawrinka went down in just over three hours on court under a blazing sun, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 to Dutch lucky loser Jesper de Jong.

“It was amazing. More than what I could expect and what I could dream of,” he said.

“So much support, so much love from the people. It was exactly the reason why I kept playing for so long.”

Despite also winning Slam titles in Melbourne and New York, Wawrinka revealed that Roland Garros was the tournament that meant the most to him.

“Today it was really tough. It’s never easy to say goodbye to something you love so much,” he said.

“I grew up watching Roland Garros. I’m from Switzerland, from the French part. The dream at that time of the year (May/June) was to come back from school and to put on France Televisions and watch all night, all day, until late. As a kid, I just enjoyed that so much.

“For me, the French Open is always going to be completely different than the other tournaments.”

He added that Roland Garros was “probably at the top” of the most difficult places to bid farewell to during his final season as a professional.

After the match, Wawrinka was presented with a glass case containing a section of a clay court and two video tributes to his career were displayed on big screens around the stadium – the latter featuring messages directed to Wawrinka from former champions Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic, among other luminaries of the sport.

“It’s hard, I don’t want to say goodbye to you here,” Wawrinka said on-court, 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. 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.”

Meanwhile, Gael Monfils said he is determined to emulate the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo and LeBron James by playing into his 40s and hopes to play at Wimbledon, Montreal and the US Open before bringing down the curtain on his career on home soil at the Paris Masters.

The Frenchman, who turns 40 in September, also bade a fond farewell to Roland Garros after going down 6-2, 6-3, 3-6, 2-6, 6-0 to compatriot Hugo Gaston on Monday, walking off to a standing ovation that celebrated a career that spanned two decades.

Like Wawrinka, Monfils will retire at the end of the season as he seeks to manage his body into his 40s.

“Why do I want to get to the States? Because I want to play until 40. My wish is to be an athlete that plays until 40 years old,” Monfils said.

“Like Stan, LeBron, Cristiano, (Patrice) Evra, like all of the athletes who have managed to continue their sport until the age of 40. That’s what I want to do.” AFP, REUTERS