United Cup: Switzerland star and three-time grand slam champion Stan Wawrinka eager to end career on a high

Three-time grand slam champion Stan Wawrinka is at peace with his decision to call it a day — but determined to make the most of his final year on the tour. Perth’s United Cup marks the beginning of the end for the popular 2014 Australian Open champion after the 40-year-old announced the upcoming season would be his last. But Wawrinka has no intention of coasting into the sunset and simply revelling in the plaudits over the next year, with plans instead to push himself to eke every last drop out of his already glittering career. “I’ve been long enough on tour. Of course, I’m still passionate about the game, about the sport I love, what I received from it, the emotion playing in a different country, coming back here with a lot of fans, a lot of support, so I’m gonna miss that part, that’s for sure,” he said. “But I still hope I can have some good results. I want to finish my career on a good level, still be able to play those top guys, and see where I am. “The last few months, I’ve had time to decide whether it will be my last year or not, and for me, it’s quite clear. I’m happy with the decision, I’m at peace with that. “I’m still looking forward to the year. One year is long. There’s a lot of tennis to play, hopefully on a good level.” The Swiss former world no.3 enters the United Cup ranked 157th, but is targeting ending his career in the double digits. “I still want to play some good tennis, I still have goals. Hopefully I can come back in the top 100, finish on a good ranking,” he said. “I will mix a bit with the tournaments. I will mix ATP Challengers, try to get best result possible. And I want to play the full year, the big tournaments, the main ones, but let’s see my ranking in the next few months.” Wawrinka has never played in Perth before, with his previous United Cup showing coming in Brisbane in 2023 and will partner women’s world no.11 Belinda Bencic as part of a Switzerland team who face France and Italy in Group C, with their campaign starting on Saturday night against the French. “I’ve been many times to Australia in the last 20 years, but never in Perth, so it’s great to be part of this amazing United Cup,” he said. “I played a few years ago, the tournament, so I was happy when we saw the draw to play in Perth. So, for me, I’m excited to be here one last time. I’m super looking forward to the first match. “Starting here in Perth, it’s for me special, because I’ve been 20 years on tour so it’s not every week you can play on new tournaments, in new cities, and this week is going to be the case.” Despite the injury-enforced absence of British star Jack Draper, tournament director Stephen Farrow said the quality and quantity assembled in Perth would make up for it. American stars Coco Gauff and Taylor Fritz both practised at RAC Arena on Monday, while British former US Open champion Emma Raducanu arrived on Sunday to join the likes of Greek dual major runner-up Stefanos Tsitsipas and Japanese ex-world no.1 Naomi Osaka in Perth. “The minute we start seeing the players arrive, you know the tournaments around the corner, you feel that level of anticipation ratchet up a bit as a tournament team,” Farrow said. “Ticket sales are ahead of last year...we’ve got so many great players here, we know that we’ve got a world-class event, which we hope as many people as possible are going to come and enjoy. “Jack’s been a bit unfortunate with injury; we actually last year had the same situation with him. We’ve still got a strong British team, though.”