Jiri Lehecka has officially ended the career of Stan Wawrinka at the Swiss Indoors in Basel.
Wawrinka had announced that he would be playing the final tournament of his career in front of his Swiss support, bringing an end to his 24-year professional career.
The 41-year-old was certainly not handed a kind draw, as Wawrinka faced eighth seed Jiri Lehecka, who he had actually never played before.
Despite putting up a good fight in the final match of his career, Wawrinka was ultimately beaten 7-5, 7-6(2) by Lehecka, who had some words for him after the match.
Jiri Lehecka says he will ānever forgetā beating Stan Wawrinka in his last ever match
Following his win over Wawrinka, Lehecka spoke in an on-court interview where he was asked about the match, but the Czech wanted to focus more on his opponentās retirement.
āWhat can I say, I donāt really think today is the right time to discuss what I did right, what I did wrong,ā said Lehecka. āI think that today is about something more, I think today is about celebrating Stanās legacy, celebrating his career, celebrating whatever he did.
āI will just keep it short, I want to say congrats to him for his career, I wish him all the best and yeah, itās been a pleasure to share the court with him.ā
Lehecka was then asked a follow-up question about his favourite memories of Wawrinka, as he admitted that it felt a ābit weirdā to be on court for the Swissā final match, but also that he would never forget the match.
āYeah, of course there has been a lot of matches that I saw,ā answered Lehecka. āHe was one of the guys that was playing unbelievably. He won the biggest tournaments, so for me to be here in his moment is a little bit weird, but at the same time it is a pleasure and I will never forget this match.ā
Stan Wawrinka or Andy Murrayā¦ who is the greater player? Let us know why below š
Stan Wawrinkaās career achievements after he retires from tennis
There have been a number of ATP players retiring this year, including Kei Nishikori, Gael Monfils and David Goffin, but Wawrinka is arguably the highest-profile farewell of them all.
Wawrinka won 16 titles in his career, and three of those titles are Grand Slams, having won the Australian Open in 2014, Roland Garros in 2015 and then the US Open in 2016.
Despite his success at Grand Slam level, Wawrinka only won one Masters 1000 title in his career, which came at the Monte Carlo Masters in 2014.
| Stan Wawrinkaās career achievements | |
| Career-high ranking | No.3 |
| Titles won | 16 |
| Grand Slam titles won | 3 (Australian Open 2014, Roland Garros 2015 & US Open 2016) |
| Masters 1000 titles won | 1 (Monte Carlo Masters 2014) |
| Record vs top 10 players | 63-107 (37.1%) |
Wawrinka is now not a professional tennis player for the first time in over 20 years, with big questions over what he will do next.
While he has suggested that he has no plans to coach for the foreseeable, what is inevitable is that Wawrinka will be inducted into the Tennis Hall of Fame when he becomes eligible in five yearsā time.
