Wawrinka: "Djokovic is the best in history, and by a huge margin"

Andrés Tomás Rico | 19 Jun 2026 | 16.32

Wawrinka: "Djokovic is the best in history, and by a wide margin". Photo: Getty Images

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The day that many people do not want to arrive is approaching: the retirement of Stan Wawrinka. The Swiss will hang up his racket at the end of this year, already bidding farewell to iconic venues of his career such as the Australian Open, where he won his first Grand Slam, and Roland Garros, where he clinched the second. However, there are still a few months left to enjoy a unique tennis player who captivated the tennis world with his one-handed backhand. Nevertheless, he will not participate in the ATP Mallorca, where he received a wildcard, in order to save all his energies for Wimbledon.

In this farewell season, the Swiss continues to leave traces of his flawless tennis and his competitive mentality, although the results are not coming. Since his third-round exit at the Australian Open, he has not been able to string together two consecutive victories, also due to his age, 41 years, and an increasingly competitive and level playing field.

Nevertheless, Wawrinka is taking the opportunity to give various interviews in which he reflects on his career and confesses his enduring love for tennis. But in his chat with the first & red podcast, the conversation focused on Novak Djokovic, Rafa Nadal, and the Grand Slams.

Stan Wawrinka is clear: Novak Djokovic is the greatest tennis player in history

"If we add everything up, Novak Djokovic is the best in history, by a huge margin. What he has achieved all these years is incredible. He has broken all records and continues to compete at the highest level," confesses the Swiss who has managed to defeat the Serbian on six occasions throughout his career, while suffering 21 defeats.

In fact, three of those six victories came in Grand Slams. But before these couple of triumphs, Wawrinka experienced a defeat to Novak Djokovic that marked a before and after in his successful career in the quarterfinals of the Australian Open. "Although I lost (1-6, 7-5, 6-4, 6-7 (5), and 12-10), that match changed my career. It was then that I realized that my success in Grand Slams was real and not just theoretical. It is undoubtedly the best match of my career, a five-set match against an opponent who was ranked number one in the world."

And after that defeat, the triumphs against the Serbian in Grand Slams followed. Specifically the following year in the quarterfinals of the Australian Open, where he would later become champion by defeating Rafa Nadal in the final, and in the 2025 Roland Garros final, which allowed him to lift his second Grand Slam trophy and delay the first victory of the Belgrade player on Parisian clay. While his third major title came in 2016 at the US Open, also prevailing over the Balkan player in the final.

However, despite having fought great battles with Djokovic in Grand Slams, Wawrinka is clear about who was the opponent who made him suffer the most in these tournaments: "Rafa Nadal was my toughest rival, especially on clay, particularly at Roland Garros, especially in five-set matches. Facing him on the clay of Paris was the toughest challenge for me," concludes Stan Wawrinka as he nears his final moments as a professional tennis player, although the day after his retirement, he will become a legend in the tennis world.

This news is an automatic translation. You can read the original news, Wawrinka: "Djokovic es el mejor de la historia, y por un margen enorme"

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