Former French Open Champion Stan Wawrinka Announces Unfortunate News, While Compatriot Roger Federer Makes a Comeback

Even before the start of the French Open 2021, a few popular names in men’s tennis have announced their withdrawal from the tournament. With Andy Murray announcing his decision to skip Roland Garros in order to focus on Wimbledon, the latest news is that the Swiss player Stan Wawrinka deciding to skip the second grand slam of the year.

A couple of months ago, Wawrinka had a surgical procedure on his left foot, and the recovery might have taken longer than expected for the Swiss to make a comeback.

Wawrinka won his first ever grand slam at the 2015 French Open, where he defeated both Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic to get hold of the title. He continued his massive momentum next year as well and won the US Open title.

Also read: Roger Federer, Venus Williams, Stan Wawrinka, and Others to Miss Italian Open 2021

Stan Wawrinka, Andy Murray set to miss the French Open this year

But, the Swiss player had a downfall since 2016 as he struggled with knee injury, which practically ruined his career. A lot of tennis fans point out the 2017 French Open semi-final between Wawrinka and Murray as the reason for their career graph to decline.

It was a brutal encounter as both the players pushed hard at each other with heavy baseline strokes. Since neither Murray nor Wawrinka has the best of serves, they relied on strong, baseline rallies to reach the finals.

Even though Wawrinka reached the finals, the destruction it caused to his body was heavy and the Swiss star is still paying the price for it. On the other hand, his compatriot Roger Federer had two back-to-back knee surgeries last year, and plans to play the French Open this year.

With new blood making their mark slowly but steadily on the ATP tour, it appears impossible for either Stan Wawrinka or Andy Murray to have a solid finish to their careers.

Even though they remain confident of reaching their highest level of fitness, the rankings drop might not allow them to reach the second week of grand slams. Witnessing the fall of such great athletes will always be painful for any sports enthusiast.

While Wawrinka is yet to announce the date for his comeback, Andy Murray plans to fully prepare himself for the grass season. Unfortunately, the Swiss player’s grass-court record isn’t that great for fans to expect a comeback. But, the two-time grand slam champion might be fit before the hard-court season begins, post Wimbledon.

Also read: “What a Champion”: Stan Wawrinka Hails Andy Murray After First-Round Battle at French Open 2020