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Stan Wawrinka - Shanghai Masters 2024

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Stan Wawrinka to continue playing in 2025: I am still living the dream

Matthew Johns
Matthew Johns
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Stan Wawrinka has confirmed that he will continue playing next year, with the three-time Grand Slam champion ‘seeing no reason’ to retire at the moment.Wawrinka lost in the second round of his home ATP 500 tournament in Basel yesterday to sixth seed Ben Shelton, 7-6(2) 7-5.
Despite the close fought defeat, the 39-year-old has recently seen an upturn in form after dropping outside the top 200 last month. This has included achieving his best result of the season last week by reaching the Stockholm semi-finals, beating top 10 player Andrey Rublev in the process. When speaking to Swiss newspaper Tages-Anzeiger, now ranked World No.169 Wawrinka revealed that he still has motivation to compete, “It was always my plan to continue. The way I feel, tennis-wise and physically, how well I train, the level of play I reach. “But of course, there is also the reality of the results and the world rankings. If I no longer have the opportunity to play in the big tournaments and the ones I usually enjoy, that could affect my motivation. So far that hasn’t been the case.”With Wawrinka’s ranking dropping outside the top 100 in recent months, the Swiss has required wildcards for his last five consecutive tournaments including this week in Basel. While he accepted them, the former World No.3 is hoping to not have to need them in the future, “Of course, it’s not my goal to play forever thanks to wildcards. It’s clear that I have to do everything I can to get back up the rankings. “Now it’s up to me to do the right thing on the court to improve my rankings and have the opportunity to choose the tournaments that I enjoy. But my passion for tennis is undiminished.” And although Wawrinka is not expecting to reach his previous heights, the 16-time title winner still appears to have faith that he can compete with the best players. “I am convinced that I still have what it takes to play very well next year,” claimed Wawrinka. “That doesn’t mean that I will be in the top 10 again. But the way I have played and felt in the last few weeks spurs me on to keep pushing myself. Even when I lost, I played strongly. I am still living the dream that I had as a little boy. I see no reason why I should stop.”
It is unclear as to when Wawrinka will next compete, as he has not received a wildcard for the main draw of the Paris Masters next week and is currently an outside alternate for qualifying.
Inside the baseline…At the US Open, Stan Wawrinka’s career really appeared to be winding down after a first round straight sets defeat to qualifier Mattia Bellucci. However, the European indoor hard court swing has really produced some vintage tennis from Wawrinka, who became the second oldest player in history to beat a top 10 player after his victory over Andrey Rublev in Stockholm. If Wawrinka can show more of this form in 2025 then there is no reason why he cannot return to the top 100 again.
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