ROLEX MONTE-CARLO MASTERS

April 6, 2026

Stan Wawrinka

Press Conference

S. BAEZ/S. Wawrinka

7-5, 7-5

THE MODERATOR: Stan, first in English, just sum up your emotions today about your last match here in Monte-Carlo.

STAN WAWRINKA: Yeah, it was a tough match, of course, but happy to have the opportunity to play one last time here. Amazing atmosphere here again, amazing support.

Super happy with that.

THE MODERATOR: Questions in English.

Q. Can you give us an idea of your schedule for the rest of this year, the tournaments you plan to play?

STAN WAWRINKA: I'm playing next week Barcelona, then probably Rome qually, Geneva. I will see if I have the chance to play French Open, Roland Garros.

I would love to play something on the grass. Hopefully Wimbledon. Then I play Gstaad, Estoril. Hopefully I can play US Open. We will see if I play a tournament before, no? Cincinnati qually or maybe a challenger.

After, we'll see. Basel, for sure. Lyon also. Lyon, Basel, for sure. The rest we'll see. It's too far.

Q. But do you think Basel might be your last tournament?

STAN WAWRINKA: It's at the end of the season. There is big chance there (smiling). But let's see. Depends what's the tournament after. Last year I played Athens. It was great, great, great tournament. I really enjoyed that. So might play the last one there. We'll see.

Q. In all these farewells that you'll have at each tournament, there are often TV, little montages of your career. In Australia you snuck a couple of beers into the fridge. Do you have any plans for what to do elsewhere? Any similar kind of things?

STAN WAWRINKA: I don't plan anything. You know, I really enjoyed that beer in Australia (smiling). I think just came out because of the tournament, because of the atmosphere, because of the fans, because what happened the match before, and the month actually there.

But I don't plan before going to tournaments what I'm going to do or not. At the end, as I say, if I wanted to, if I want to play the year full, I need to keep the mindset as a competitor. So I'm always pushing myself. I'm always trying to improve, trying to be better. I put a lot of pressure on myself to try to keep winning some matches. Doesn't help me much, but at the end, that's the athlete I am. I'm always going to come on court to try to win, and I cannot just arrive and try just to enjoy because it's my last one and who cares.

Q. Are there days when that's more difficult to do?

STAN WAWRINKA: Yeah, of course, there's days (smiling). It's never easy. We only see what's happening like today on court with full, full crowd, full people. But there is a lot of work behind, especially at 41 years old.

It's request a lot of discipline, self-discipline, sacrifice, try to stay fit, try to stay at that level. So of course there is days and weeks that are really, really difficult, but at the end it's worth it. I'm passionate about the sport I love. I love what I do. I know it's my last year, trying to do the best I can.

Hopefully, like I said, hopefully I can win a few matches this year to enjoy that feeling of winning, because when you're a competitor, what you look, it's the win.

Q. You said that things get more difficult as you get older. What are the things that get more difficult first? Is it a particular shot, is it running, is it your mentality? What?

STAN WAWRINKA: Well, I think it's a little bit of everything, a little bit of everything. Depends of the days. Everything takes a little bit more time. You need more practice. You need more recover. You need more fitness, need more treatment.

With getting less result also. Is not my first warm-up, is not my first practice, the repetition, sometimes the traveling, of course, but I could talk a lot about all these aspect, but at the end of the day, being a tennis player, it's a chance. It's something amazing.

I always dream about that. I'm 41 and I'm still doing it because I enjoy that. Like I say, I know that it's not easy to keep pushing myself to be able to do that, but at the end of the day, I love it.

So I'm okay with everything. I think I do believe there is too much positive being a tennis player, that we shouldn't talk about what's the difficult part.

THE MODERATOR: Questions in French.

Q. You're about the same age as Novak and others, Monfils. We know the mark that they will leave in this sport. For Novak, he's going to be the GOAT, and Monfils will be the greatest showman in the sport, maybe with others. I asked other players what mark you would leave, and they said you were able to play your best tennis in the big moments of your career. In Switzerland, where you come from, people are very punctual, the clock industry is very well developed. I would like to know what you think about all this.

STAN WAWRINKA: Well, it's very kind of you, but I don't think very much of this. I'm happy to hear this, but as I said, I was raised on a farm, and I was dreaming of becoming a professional tennis player with the only goal of doing my best every day, to be able to push back my limits without having any barriers.

I never set the goal of winning a Grand Slam or be No. 1. I just wanted to be better always, and this is what I succeeded in doing in my career. I was able to reach my maximum capacity, winning Grand Slams, Masters 1000 tournaments, and beating the best players.

In the end, what counts for me is the love of the game and the passion that allowed me to achieve this. My goal was always to work in the long term. I invested a lot of time trying to develop and not just seeing the next tournament or the next ranking every week.

I didn't want to have a mental burnout with this. I wanted to develop my physical capacity, my tennis capacity. This is how I was able to reach my best level.

Q. 12 years ago you won this tournament here in Monte-Carlo. It was the only Masters 1000. You remember that match of 2 hours and 13 minutes against Roger?

STAN WAWRINKA: As you said, it was my only Masters 1000, especially here in Monte-Carlo. I grew up on clay when I was young. I was always dreaming about playing those tournaments on clay with all the clay court specialists, and Monte-Carlo was one of my favorite tournaments that I loved to watch.

And being able to play here and playing against Roger, a year when both of us were playing the Davis Cup, we were very close, it was just before the final. Matches against Roger were always complicated because of this close relationship, so having been able to overcome this and win the tournament was exceptional for me.

Q. As you said, you are not able to savor the moments of these last tournaments because you are focused on winning. But when there is a celebration at the end, do you really appreciate the moment?

STAN WAWRINKA: It's a question of balance. As I said, I'm lucky to be where I am today, and I had a wildcard here that I appreciate a lot. I appreciate practice. I appreciate everything I do, and I try to get energy from that.

But it's not easy. As I said, I'm a competitor above anything else. I always want to push my limits, and this requires a lot of energy and makes me very tired mentally to try to maintain this level.

And of course when you lose a match like today, you feel frustrated internally, and the pleasure is not as great as I would like it to be. But once the match is over, as always, I move on, and I appreciate the moment.

This is why I'm still playing at 41 years old, because I have these emotions on the court, because I'm lucky to play in front of a full stadium. And people are pushing me, they are encouraging me, trying to give me their energy, and I enjoy that.

Q. What do you feel exactly in these moments? Is it happiness? Is it pride?

STAN WAWRINKA: It's difficult to explain. When you lose, it's not the greatest pleasure. You don't want to stay on the court. Once the match is finished, you really want to put a mental distance with it.

After losing, I always think, I don't want to be here, I don't deserve to be here, so I want to create a distance between me and the match. Of course with experience, I'm able to enjoy the moment.

Is it pride? I don't know. I was always honest on the court. I always tried to share as much as I could with the crowd, take their love, their support, and all the energy they are giving me without thinking about knowing whether I'm proud or whether what I did is great or not.

What I wanted is to communicate with the crowd, and this is the reason why I'm still playing. It's because of those emotions.

Q. You have been on the tour for a long time. We saw the tournaments growing. If you were to remember one Grand Slam, which one would it be? The stadiums are getting bigger and bigger, many things are organized around the tournament.

STAN WAWRINKA: Yes, the tournaments are growing. I believe they didn't grow enough after all these years. Of course, from the outside, what you can see on television are the fans and everything, but from the players' side and the spaces for the professional tennis players, I don't believe it did develop fast enough. This is what I think.

Overall, in tennis, we are lucky because we are able to play in beautiful stadiums in the most beautiful cities in the world and most of the time in a full stadium, so that's the most important thing.