Stan Wawrinka will not get a farewell at the US Open after the tournament declined to award him a wildcard, denying the 2016 champion one last main-draw appearance in New York.
The 41-year-old, who has announced he will retire at the end of the year, confirmed his gratitude to the event and the city in a social media message. "When I first arrived in New York from a small farming village in Switzerland, everything felt too big. The city. The noise. The energy. The crowds. The lights," he wrote. "But, year after year, New York slowly became one of my favourite places in the world. This city challenged me. It pushed me. It brought something out of me that few places ever could. I experienced some of the strongest emotions of my career here. The battles, the late nights, the incredible atmosphere, the love from the crowd… memories that will stay with me forever. Winning the US Open, in the city that never sleeps, will forever be one of the greatest moments of my life."
The United States Tennis Association said it does not comment on wildcard decisions. Other than reciprocal slots reserved for French and Australian players, the remaining six wildcards in both the men's and women's singles fields went to Americans. The USTA organises and bankrolls the tournament and can prioritise its own players, a reality that left Wawrinka outside the discretionary picks for Flushing Meadows.
Wawrinka received wildcards earlier this season for the Australian Open and Wimbledon and reached the French Open main draw on ranking. He advanced to the third round in Melbourne and exited in entertaining first-round matches in Paris and at Wimbledon. Persistent injury and form issues have left him outside the top 100, which has curtailed his automatic entry to slams.
Wawrinka has been a rare major winner during the era dominated by Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer, lifting the Australian Open in 2014, the French Open in 2015 and the US Open in 2016. He first played the New York main draw in 2005 and made 17 men's singles appearances there.
His coach, Magnus Norman, posted a brief account of their final push on Instagram: "We pushed to play one last Grand Slam at 41 years of age but we just came up short. It sure hurts but thanks for all the beautiful memories on and off the court together with you and the team in New York for the past 13 years."
The refusal to grant Wawrinka a wildcard highlights how national organisers use discretionary spots, and it leaves fans and the event without a planned goodbye for a charismatic former world number three. The US Open begins on Sunday, 30 August at Flushing Meadows, with a vacant ceremonial place where Wawrinka might have stood.
