Nobody has a grasp of Grand Slam five-set matches quite like Stan Wawrinka.
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Playing inspired tennis reminiscent of the form that earned him three Grand Slam titles, the Swiss wildcard on Thursday became the first player aged 40 or over to reach the third round at a major since Ken Rosewall at the 1978 Australian Open. Wawrinka, 40, broke the 48-year drought with a nail-biting 4-6 6-3 3-6 7-5 7-6 [10-3] win over 21-year-old French qualifier Arthur Gea.
Roaring in delight after triumphing in front of Kia Arena’s electrified crowd in a marathon four hours and 33 minutes, the AO 2014 champion extended his own record of having competed in 50 five-set matches at Grand Slam level and tied Ivan Lendl with a staggering 58 five-set matches at ATP Tour-level, the most in the Open Era.
Competing in his 20th AO, the former world No.3 struck 63 winners, 13 of which were his recognisable, breathtaking backhand groundstrokes, en route to securing a coveted berth in the round of 32 at Melbourne Park for the first time since 2020.
The three-time major champion, currently ranked No.139, has tested his 40-year-old body this month.
Before kicking off his AO 2026 campaign with a three hour and 20 minute four-set win over Laslo Djere, Wawrinka prepared by representing Switzerland at the United Cup. There, he upset Frenchman Arthur Rinderknech but fell to Italian Flavio Cobolli, Argentinian Sebastian Baez, Belgian Zizou Bergs and Poland’s Hubert Hurkacz.
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The Swiss star will no doubt prioritise recovery ahead of Saturday’s clash against ninth seed Taylor Fritz, who defeated Vit Kopriva in straight sets on Thursday. Wawrinka owns a 2-1 head-to-head advantage over the American, though they haven’t battled since 2023.
“It’s my last Australian Open so I’m trying to last as long as possible,” said Wawrinka, admitting that the gruelling battle left him exhausted.
“I’m always going to fight, I’m always going to leave everything on the court, always trying my best, trying to push myself.”
The 40-year-old thanked his throng of fans – some bearing ‘Allez Stan the Man’ signage – in Kia Arena’s 5,000-strong crowd for helping him across the finish line.
“Not only I have fun, but also you gave me so much energy. You know I’m not young anymore, so I need your energy, I need extra energy from you,” he said.
“It's a[n] amazing feeling to be on this court, to have so much noise, so much support, it was a long match, I don’t know how I’m going to recover, but I’m super happy.”
“Maybe I’m going to pick up a beer, I deserve one.”