Stan Wawrinka

Representing Switzerland, Wawrinka won gold in doubles at the 2008 Beijing Olympics partnering Roger Federer, and was also pivotal in the Swiss team's victory at the 2014 Davis Cup.In July, Wawrinka won his first ATP title, at the Croatia Open Umag, when his opponent in the final, Novak Djokovic, retired through fatigue.He suffered a three-month setback, tearing a tendon in his right knee while practicing for the Swiss Davis Cup team's tie against Spain in February.He also claimed wins over Guillermo Cañas and Juan Ignacio Chela en route to a meeting with Rafael Nadal in the final of the Mercedes Cup in Stuttgart in July.The partnership with Lundgren showed its benefits in the US Open, where Wawrinka reached the quarterfinals, beating fourth seed Andy Murray along the way.[27] Wawrinka then had a series of first-round exits at Wimbledon, Gstaad, and in the Summer Olympics, where he lost to the eventual gold medallist Andy Murray.He and Marco Chiudinelli were defeated by Lukáš Rosol and Tomáš Berdych of the Czech Republic in 7 hours and 2 minutes, including a 46-game-long final set.In the US Open, Wawrinka reached his first Grand Slam semifinal, losing to top seed Novak Djokovic, again in five tightly contested sets.After his Grand Slam breakthrough, Wawrinka continued to display solid form, reaching the semifinals in Kuala Lumpur, where he lost to Julien Benneteau, and quarterfinals of Masters 1000 tournaments in Shanghai and Paris, losing to Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic, respectively.At the Australian Open, Wawrinka beat Andrey Golubev and Alejandro Falla in the first two rounds, then had a walkover when Vasek Pospisil pulled out of their third-round match, followed by a straight-set win over Tommy Robredo.The victory was his first win over Nadal in 13 attempts (having never won a set against him in their previous 12 meetings), and also made him the first man since Sergi Bruguera in 1993 to beat both of the top two seeds en route to a Grand Slam title.At the Miami Masters, he made it to the fourth round after defeating Daniel Gimeno Traver and Édouard Roger-Vasselin, before losing to an in-form Alexandr Dolgopolov.Later that month, Wawrinka participated in the Aegon Championships, knocking out Marcos Baghdatis, Sam Querrey, and Marinko Matosevic without dropping a set, before losing to eventual champion Grigor Dimitrov in the semifinals.Wawrinka did not play on the final day, as Federer sealed the tie, by beating Gasquet in straight sets for Switzerland's first Davis Cup title.Winning in four sets against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the semifinals, he earned his second appearance in a Grand Slam final, this time against top seed Novak Djokovic.[47] Wawrinka continued his dominant Grand Slam form at the US Open, with wins over Albert Ramos, Chung Hyeon, Ruben Bemelmans, Donald Young.Wawrinka then helped Switzerland advance to the Davis Cup World Group with a five-set win over Dutchman Thiemo de Bakker in Geneva.Wawrinka then entered the Shanghai Rolex Masters, where he defeated former US Open champion Marin Čilić in a three-set battle before losing in straight sets to Rafael Nadal in the quarterfinals.He then matched his performance at the ATP World Tour Finals the previous year by reaching the semifinals in London with round-robin wins over Andy Murray and David Ferrer.At the Geneva Open Wawrinka had two easy wins against Albert Ramos Viñolas and Pablo Carreño Busta, and a three set victory over Lukáš Rosol.Wins over Taro Daniel, Jérémy Chardy and Viktor Troicki sent Wawrinka to the quarterfinals, where he dispatched Albert Ramos Viñolas in straight sets.At the French Open, Wawrinka defeated Jozef Kovalík, Alexandr Dolgopolov, Fabio Fognini, Gaël Monfils and Marin Čilić in straight sets.[58] He then played at the 2018 Geneva Open where he was the two-time defending champion but his title defense ended in a straight sets defeat to Márton Fucsovics in the quarterfinals.Warwinka received a wild card and entered the St Petersburg Open beating Karen Khachanov, Aljaž Bedene and Damir Džumhur before losing to Martin Kližan.He won his first two matches against Jozef Kovalík and Cristian Garín before beating Grigor Dimitrov for the third time in the last four majors to record his 500th career win.[86] Next at the Croatia Open, Wawrinka reached his first ATP final since 2019, defeating Filip Misolic, Federico Coria, Roberto Carballes Baena, and Lorenzo Sonego.At the 2024 French Open, he recorded his 70th Grand Slam participation, tied for fifth place with Fabrice Santoro, with a win over Andy Murray in straight sets.[97][98] Possessing one of the strongest one-handed backhands on tour, Wawrinka is characterized as a powerful offensive baseliner capable of playing well on most surfaces, especially on clay and hard courts.As analyzed in a New York Times Magazine article (2014 August 22), Wawrinka's backhand drive motion is unique in several areas:[101] In 2013, he began working with new coach Magnus Norman, who was a former world No.In 2009, Wawrinka was living in Saint-Barthélemy, about 20 km (12 mi) north of Lausanne, with his wife Ilham Vuilloud, a Swiss television presenter and former fashion model.