In his 20th Australian Open main draw appearance, Swiss star Stan Wawrinka lit up the tournament on Day 2 with a four-set win over Serb Laslo Djere.
Wawrinka, a 40-year-old wildcard, beat Djere 5-7 6-3 6-4 7-6(4) for his first main-draw win at Melbourne Park since 2021.
The Australian Open 2014 champion was emotional after the victory, in what is his last AO campaign in his final season on tour.
Exactly 20 years after his AO main-draw debut, Wawrinka faces a second-round meeting with French qualifier Arthur Gea, who stunned 17th seed Jiri Lehecka later on Monday.
The result continues what has been an impressive start to the 2026 season for Wawrinka, who also beat top-30 foe Arthur Rinderknech at the United Cup and stretched another three opponents at the season-opening event to three sets.
"I've been working really hard to stay in shape, to push myself,” said Wawrinka, who rises to 118th in the ATP live rankings.
PODCAST: Listen to Stan Wawrinka on The-Sit Down at AO 2026
“I think also the week in United Cup helped me a lot because I played over three hours match back to back, plus a lot of tennis on the court, high level. It got me a lot of confidence into what I'm able to do.
“But at the end I'm still 40 years old and you never know what happen. But you don't have to think too much in advance, too much into how long is going to be the match or is it going to be five sets or no.
“No, you have to do the best with what you can in the moment. Today was great.”
Fans packed every available seat in KIA Arena and willed Wawrinka to victory, 12 years after he broke through for his first Grand Slam title at this very tournament.
After dropping the first set, he increasingly tapped into their support, breaking serve once in each of the second and third sets to take them, then recovering from 4-2 down in the fourth to prevail in a tiebreak.
He smacked 14 aces among 35 total winners, while also benefitting from the 67 unforced errors Djere sprayed throughout the three-hour, 20-minute encounter.
And the result earned him his first Grand Slam main-draw win since Wimbledon in 2024.
“It was amazing. It was full, a lot of support for me. It's always extra energy to receive so much support, especially here. The atmosphere is really special,” Wawrinka commented.
“It helped me a lot and I'm super happy to get through this one.”
In Gea, Wawrinka faces an opponent who is flying after winning three matches in qualifying and then extending his winning streak to four by beating Lehecka.
The 21-year-old Frenchman has won nine consecutive sets so far at Australian Open 2026.