PARIS — Stan Wawrinka waved a fond goodbye to the French Open after losing in the first round on Monday.
The 41-year-old Swiss, the 2015 champion and 2017 finalist, is retiring at the end of the season. He made his final Roland Garros appearance 21 years after his first.
Jesper de Jong finished off Wawrinka 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 with a whipped forehand winner, then urged the fans to applaud Wawrinka, whose face was almost as red as the baking-hot clay. Temperatures in sun-soaked Paris hit 33 degrees C (91 F).
“It’s hard, it’s hard to say goodbye to you here,” an emotional Wawrinka said. “It’s because of Roland Garros that I wanted to become a tennis player.”
He was given an ovation at Court Simonne-Mathieu, where he got fans to do a Mexican wave before leaving. He was scheduled to face Arthur Fils but the rising French star pulled out of the tournament with a hip issue.
Wawrinka got the crowd going, at times asking for more encouragement with a broad grin. He applauded the spectators back, tapping his racket after winning a point. One fan held up a sign with “Stan the Man” written on it, another with “Stan still the Man.”
He knows it will be hard to let go– although he still has Wimbledon and the US Open to come.
“For more than 20 years I experienced these emotions, you never want it to stop,” Wawrinka said. “I have given everything for this sport.”
His stunning 2015 run to the title saw him defeat heavy favorite Novak Djokovic in the final after downing another all-time great, Roger Federer, in the quarterfinals. Wawrinka stood out that year as much for his eye-catching pink-checkered shorts as for his destructive backhand.
Those shorts fed his happy-go-lucky appearance and he reinforced that image by celebrating with Champagne long into the night. But as cavalier as he sometimes seemed, Wawrinka was anything but casual and always trained fiercely hard.
Later Monday, Gael Monfils plays in the night session. The 39-year-old Frenchman is also retiring at the end of the year.
De Jong, who is 25, gave Wawrinka a timely reminder of his veteran status.
“He was playing against my coach (Bas Van Bentum) when I was a ball kid. I don’t want to say you’re that old,” De Jong said, drawing a smile from Wawrinka. “It’s all about Stan today, the way he was fighting.”
Wawrinka retorted: “I know I played against your coach, it doesn’t make me any younger.”
He was hugged on court by tournament director Amelie Mauresmo, before sitting and watching footage of his matches down the years. He was shown video messages from Federer, Rafael Nadal, Djokovic, men’s No. 1 Jannik Sinner, reigning champion Carlos Alcaraz, and Monfils.
At his physical peak, the barrel-chested Wawrinka had huge stamina and was one of the few who beat Nadal, Djokovic, Federer and Andy Murray at the Grand Slams.
Wawrinka beat Nadal in the the Australian Open final in 2014 and downed Djokovic again in the US Open final in 2016, meaning all three of his majors were won against the No. 1 player. Nadal, however, dispatched him in straight sets in the 2017 French Open final.
He was an Olympic champion in doubles alongside Federer in 2008 and they won the Davis Cup for Switzerland in 2014.
“You are a legend of our sport,” said Monfils, who later faced countryman Hugo Gaston on Court Philippe-Chatrier.
