Stan Wawrinka breaks big Roger Federer record at Swiss Indoors Basel

Stan Wawrinka broke Roger Federer's record of being the oldest match winner at the Swiss Indoors Basel. Wawrinka, a three-time Major winner, who is competing in this year's edition of the ATP 500-level event, achieved the feat by defeating Adrian Mannarino in the first round.

Wawrinka turned 39 in March this year. However, the Swiss veteran doesn't seem to be in any hurry to call time on his illustrious career. Even though his general level of play has dipped well below the sort of quality that it had during his prime, he still continues to produce surprise results from time to time.

At the recently-concluded Stockholm Open in Sweden, Stan Wawrinka surprisingly reached the semifinals before losing to eventual champion Tommy Paul. His most notable scalp in the Swedish capital was that of top seed and World No. 7 Andrey Rublev in the quarterfinals. It was the Swiss veteran's first top 10 win since the 2023 Cincinnati Open.

The 39-year-old started his Swiss Indoors Basel campaign against Frenchman Adrian Mannarino, a player who had a perfect 3-0 head-to-head edge over Wawrinka coming into the match. However, ultimately, Wawrinka finally snapped his losing streak against Mannarino in front of a roaring home crowd, winning 6-3, 3-6, 7-5.

The win helped the three-time Grand Slam champion and former World No. 3 to become the oldest man to win a match at the ATP 500 event. The legendary Roger Federer held the record before, with his last appearance at the tournament coming in 2019, when he won the title for a record tenth time by defeating Alex de Minaur in the final.

Stan Wawrinka breaks Roger's record as the oldest match-winner in Basel 😯👏 byu/TennisChannel intennis

Ahead of the tournament, Wawrinka was asked about his thoughts on retirement. The Swiss stated that it all boils down to his performances and his ranking.

Currently, Wawrinka is ranked at a lowly World No. 169, and has been mostly dependent on receiving wildcard entries to participate at the big events on the tennis calender.

"My goal is not to play forever with wildcards" - Stan Wawrinka

Stan Wawrinka (Source: Getty)

At a 2024 Swiss Indoors Basel pre-tournament press conference, Stan Wawrinka admitted that his goal is to significantly improve his ranking, which will give him a better chance to be in contention to play at more events. Currently, the Swiss' low ranking makes him reliant on wildcards to reach main draws of tournaments.

Wildcards are typically given by tournament organizers at their own discretion, with players having no say.

"My goal is not to play forever with wildcards. I really need a good ranking. The goal is to push myself to the maximum in order to play a whole year again. But I want to enjoy every moment. Because if I stop, there's no going back, I'm aware of that," Wawrinka said.

The Swiss is set to face No. 6 Ben Shelton next. Shelton reached the second round of the Swiss Indoors Basel after a comfortable 6-3, 6-4 win over Tomas Martin Etcheverry.