After Basel: Wawrinka's 24-Year Journey and the One-Handed Backhand That Challenged the Big Three Era

The match ended on the indoor hard court in Basel against Jiri Lehecka, and Stan Wawrinka picked up his racket bag and walked toward the corner where 24 years of a journey had condensed into a single moment. The scoreboard recorded the name and age of the 41-year-old, but those present on that Basel court saw more than just a loss. It was the first day of the final match that Wawrinka had himself decided would be the end of his career. Standing in the mixed zone after the match, he said, 'I left everything on the court, but there were things today I wanted to change.' This was the same Wawrinka who had broken the monopoly of Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, and Novak Djokovic by winning the 2026 Australian Open. After the loss in Basel, Wawrinka announced his retirement with 590 ATP match wins and three Grand Slam titles. He had announced his retirement plan before the 2026 season, and this match in Basel proved to be the final stop on that plan. Lehecka was ranked No. 21 in the world at the time, and for a 41-year-old, competing against an opponent of that caliber was a statement in itself. He won 12 matches in the 2026-2026 period, an extraordinary figure for a player past 40. I remember Cannes in 2026, when I first sat in a Davis Cup press room and was told that women cannot read a doubles return game. That's when I started charting serve placement and return positions from the stands. Looking at Wawrinka's game, I feel his one-handed backhand is similar evidence—one that requires both numbers and technique to understand. The biggest feature of his career was that he defeated the world No. 1 player in all three Grand Slam finals. Nadal at the 2026 Australian Open, Djokovic at the 2026 French Open, and Djokovic again at the 2026 US Open—each time, the best player in the world stood before him in the final. This was not a coincidence. Looking at Wawrinka's career in numbers: 590 ATP match wins, 16 ATP titles, three Grand Slams, one Olympic gold medal (in doubles at Rio 2026), and the 2026 Davis Cup title. But these numbers don't tell his real story. The real story is that he won three Grand Slams in the era of the Big Three, when Federer, Nadal, and Djokovic were capturing almost every major title. What he did between 2026 and 2026 was extraordinary for any player of that time. But there is a catch here that needs understanding. Summing up Wawrinka's legacy simply as 'a one-handed backhand' does not do justice to his career. It is true that his backhand is counted among the most beautiful shots in tennis history, but his real strength was his mental resilience and his ability to perform in big matches. Beating Djokovic in the 2026 French Open final—when Djokovic was considered the most unbeatable player in the world—was not just a matter of technique, but of morale. He won 12 matches after the age of 40, which shows that both his body and mind supported him. The ATP has called him a symbol of 'pure beauty and overwhelming power,' but it should also be remembered that Wawrinka's career was filled with injuries and struggles. After 2026, his ranking declined, and he was eliminated in the first round several times. But he never gave up. He returned to the court in 2026 and played his final match in Basel in 2026 at the age of 41. Now the question is: is Wawrinka's retirement the end of an era in tennis where the one-handed backhand was an identity? Today, the two-handed backhand has become the norm, and the number of players using the one-handed backhand is steadily decreasing. Wawrinka was among the last great players to bring this shot to world prominence. After he leaves, will anyone else win a Grand Slam with a one-handed backhand? His farewell event in Geneva, 'One Last Backhand,' is set to take place, where players and fans from around the world will pay tribute to him. But the real question is whether the tennis world can keep alive the style of play for which Wawrinka was known after he leaves. This is not just the retirement of a player; it could be the end of a style.