Stan Wawrinka was awarded a Wimbledon wildcard earlier this week, thus confirming that he would be returning to the All England Club in his final year on tour.
It was only right that the Swiss superstar be rewarded for all he has given to the sport, and given how competitive he has looked at the other two majors this year, a first-round exit is far from a foregone conclusion.
That being said, there are justifiable concerns over his fitness.
The 41-year-old has not played since that early exit in Paris, and has yet to play a single warm-up event on grass ahead of Wimbledon.
Even more worrying is the fact that he has just withdrawn from his only planned tournament, releasing a statement on the matter.
Stan Wawrinka explains why he withdrew from the Mallorca Open
Speaking directly on the Vanda Pharmaceuticals Mallorca Championships social media account, he began by greeting the viewer, before revealing: “I’m sorry to announce that unfortunately I cannot play the Vanda Pharmaceuticals Mallorca Championships. For personal reasons, I cannot make it to the main draw.
Who do you think was a better player: Alexander Zverev or Stan Wawrinka? 🤔
“I was really looking forward to being here in Mallorca. I came early with my team to get ready to practice in this amazing club, amazing tournament, but unfortunately, I cannot make it.
“Hopefully in the future maybe I can come back to Mallorca, play an exhibition and see you all there. Bye.”
Wawrinka receiving a wildcard for Wimbledon sees him join a host of other star names, including Grigor Dimitrov on the men’s sides, and the ladies doubles team of Serena and Venus Williams.
Stan Wawrinka’s historical record at Wimbledon.
The main argument that was made for why Stan Wawrinka might not get a Wimbledon wildcard was due to his historical performance at this event.
After all, of the four Grand Slams, it remains the only one which he has failed to win.
In fact, he’s never really even come close.
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Whilst he enjoyed runs to the semi-finals of the Australian Open, Roland Garros and US Open as well as his titles, his best-ever performance at the All England Club was two quarter-finals, made in 2014 and 2015. It’s clear that grass is far from his favoured surface.
Other than that, Wawrinka has suffered seven first-round exits, and unsurprisingly has a far worse win rate (56%) than the other three majors (70%, 70% and 74% respectively).
It’s unlikely that he will drastically change any of these figures in what will be his final appearance at Wimbledon later this month.
