Stan Wawrinka received a sweet surprise from his girlfriend. This Swiss ATP star bagged a victory in Paris against the Scottish Andy Murray, demolishing the latter’s last French Open dream yesterday. While fans celebrate his long-term rivalry with his “great champion”, his girlfriend’s sweetest acknowledgment forces the fraternity to go “awww”.

Stan Wawrinka’s model girlfriend Sarah Hannoun took to her official Instagram profile story to congratulate her boyfriend’s brotherhood moment with Andy Murray with many heart emojis. Hannoun shared Tennis TV’s post, where they acknowledged the nerve-wracking rivalry between the Swiss tennis player with Murray over 19 years. “23 matches. 19 years. Murray vs Wawrinka is a rivalry built on respect 🤝 #tennis #tennistv #atptour #rolandgarros #wawrinka #murray”  captioned Tennis TV’s Instagram page with their latest photo from the French Open’s first round this season.

Yesterday, in an incredible spirit, Wawrinka defeated his long-term rival Murray by 6-4, 6-4 and 6-2. Given that it was 2016’s French Open runner-up Murray’s last attempt in Paris before retirement, the moment was truly special for both the players including the fans. On the other hand, following this victory, Wawrinka became the third person to win a match at Roland Garros a the age of 39 since 1980.

Wawrinka and Murray’s rivalry goes back long and takes a special place in Rolland Garros. The duo met in the semifinals of the French Open consecutively in 2016 and 2017. In their total four meetings in Paris, the Swiss ATP star bagged three victories against Murray.

While their legendary rivalry delighted the tennis fans for over a decade, Wawrinka and Murray reveal their immense respect for each other. This took a great turn when Wawrinka complimented Murray in the most beautiful way possible.

Stan Wawrinka hailed Murray as “great champion” after defeating him in the French Open 2024

After the pair’s 23rd meeting yesterday, the Swiss ATP star dropped a lot of praise for his opponent, showing the respect he holds for Murray. “My first words are for a great champion, I have loved watching Andy play, loved fighting against him. We’ve had a lot of fights over the last 15 years. We are not very young so we did all we could and remember all these moments. I love to work in front of a crowd like this. I’ve shared a lot of emotion with this crowd and they gave me a lot of energy to fight”- said the 39-year-old Wawrinka.

Wawrinka’s girlfriend’s reaction to Murray and her boyfriend’s long rivalry showed how much fans and the fraternity adored their rivalry. While Murray won’t be seen against the Swiss on Paris’s clay court anymore, Wawrinka’s message for Murray tells the tale of an epic friendship created by tennis.