Win Or Lose, Wawrinka Gave It His All At Roland-Garros 

Stan Wawrinka
Stan Wawrinka (photo: Roland-Garros video/YouTube)

PARIS/WASHINGTON, May 25, 2026 (by Michael Dickens)

Stan Wawrinka was drenched in sweat and spread flat on his back following a brilliant, penultimate point during what turned out to be his last French Open match Monday afternoon. The crowd that filled Court Simonne-Mathieu, the third-largest show court at Stade Roland-Garros applauded in appreciation of the effort.

The 41-year-old Swiss star, who is playing in his final season on the ATP Tour, lost his first-round encounter with 106th-ranked Dutch lucky loser Jesper de Jong, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4, in three hours and four minutes as the heat wave continued on Day 2 at the 2026 French Open.

On match point, de Jong won a dramatic, 13-shot rally with a brilliant and tactical forehand lob that floated over Wawrinka’s head and landed just inside the baseline. It happened after Wawrinka hit a series of beautiful, one-fisted backhands. As soon as the match ended, de Jong and Wawrinka shared a warm embrace at the net. All was good between them. No hard feelings. After all, it was one last fine fling for the 113th-ranked Wawrinka – even if Wawrinka didn’t have a chance to pull victory out of the hat in five sets.

De Jong accepted the plaudits of the French crowd that filled the garden court at Roland-Garros. But as he did, he pointed toward Wawrinka. It was Wawrinka, after all, who deserved the recognition as the crowd rose and gave him a standing ovation.

In a heartbreaking defeat, Wawrinka finished with a flourish. He struck 35 winners – 10 of them for aces – and converted two of 11 break points. De Jong was solid in winning, hitting 41 winners, including 10 aces . He converted four of six break points and outpointed Wawrinka 120-98.

“To be honest, it’s not about me today,” de Jong said during a brief on-court interview before giving way to Wawrinka. “Funny story about Stan, he was playing against my coach when I was a ball kid. … It’s all about Stan today.”

Then, when it was Wawrinka’s turn, he spoke from the heart in French – and, when he was finished delivering his remarks, he tapped his heart.

“It’s hard, I don’t want to say goodbye to you here,” Wawrinka said, translated from French. “Unfortunately, it’s my last match at Roland-Garros, but thank you.

Responding to cries of “We love you, Stan” from the fans, Wawrinka replied “Me too, I love you.

“Thanks to all your support, I wanted to go on as long as possible, to 41 years of age, to continue living moments like this.”

Afterward, there were video tributes for the 2015 French Open champion from by Roger Federer, Jannik Sinner, Rafael Nadal, Carlos Alcaraz, Gaël Monfils and Novak Djokovic. Wawrinka received a glass case containing a section of a clay court from tournament director Amelie Mauresmo and Gilles Moretton, president of the French Tennis Federation.

Looking back, while Wawrinka’s performance on Monday afternoon in the blistering Paris heat may not have equaled that of his 2015 championship match, in which he beat a peak Novak Djokovic to end a 28-match winning streak. However, it was no less passionate. When it was over, Wawrinka remained behind, lead a hearty round of cheers with fans on all sides of the court. He signed autographs and posed for selfies.

De Jong, who said during his on-court interview that he was once a ball kid for a Wawrinka match, will play 238th-ranked Italian qualifier Federico Cina in the second round. It’s the third-straight second-round appearance in Paris for de Jong.

Jodar outstanding in Roland-Garros debut

Spain’s Rafael Jodar made a memorable debut at Roland-Garros on Monday afternoon. The 19-year-old Spaniard, who is seeded for the first time at at Grand Slam tournament at No. 27, defeated 67th-ranked American Aleksandar Kovacevic, 6-1, 6-0, 6-4 in one hour and 34 minutes on Court 12.

Throughout, Jodar played confidently and with clarity. He won 81 percent (34 of 42) of his first-serve points, hit 27 winners, saved the only break point he faced and converted six of 12 break points. He outpointed Kovacevic, who was a semifinalist at Hamburg last week, 84-48.

During a pre-tournament news conference, Jodar said: “I am looking forward to starting the tournament and playing my best tennis and without any expectations. … It’s my first Grand Slam, my first French Open, and I look forward to enjoying the experience.”

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros)

After Monday’s win, Jodar said of his French Open debut: “The first matches are always difficult in a tournament. I had to serve very well. I tried to play my game during the first two sets, and even when things got a little bit more difficult for me in the third set, I think I played those points especially very well, playing my game.”

With his first-round triumph secured, the 29th-ranked Jodar improved to 16-3 on clay this season. He won his first ATP Tour title on clay at Marrakech last month and strung together consecutive quarterfinal appearances at the ATP Masters 1000 level in Madrid and Rome. Next, Jodar will face No. 82 James Duckworth of Australia.

Svitolina digs deep, goes the distance to win

World No. 7 Elina Svitolina of Ukraine, who earlier this month captured the WTA 1000 Rome title to build her confidence before Paris, was taken to the brink by 57th-ranked Anna Bondar of Hungary before she pulled through with a thrilling 3-6, 6-1, 7-6 (3) victory in two hours and 26 minutes on Court Suzanne-Lenglen.

Monday afternoon’s meeting was the fifth time Svitolina and Bondar have met in the past year, including four times at Grand Slams. Svitolina now leads their head-to-head 3-2 and this win ended a three-match losing streak to the Hungarian. She’s safely through to the second round at Roland-Garros for the 13th-straight time.

Svitolina hit 38 winners, converted five of eight break points and outpointed Bondar 104-87.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros)

Afterward, during her on-court interview, Svitolina said: “The support of you guys was unbelievable and these kinds of battles are never easy. This kind of performance, I know now with Anna I have played many times with her, I’m really tired of playing against her!

“It was an amazing match, I’m really pleased with my performance and I’m really overwhelmed with emotion. First round, like this, puts you back on track and back working.”

Next, Svitolina will face 126th-ranked qualifier Kaitlin Quevedo of Spain, a recent ITF W75 titlist at Saint-Gaudens, who advanced over 122nd-ranked French wild card Leolia Jeanjean, 7-6 (5), 7-6 (2).

Djokovic begins quest for 25th Grand Slam title with win

Novak Djokovic, who was making a record 82nd appearance at a Grand Slam, improved to 80-2 in first-round majors matches after defeating No. 83 Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard of France, 5-7, 7-5, 6-1, 6-4, in two hours and 51 minutes on Court Philippe-Chatrier late Sunday evening to advance to the second round against another Frenchman, No. 74 Valentin Royer.

The World No. 4 Djokovic from Serbia, who had not lost a major opener since 2006 at the Australian Open, found his rhythm by the third set. He finished with 45 winners – 12 of them aces – and converted five of 16 break points. The third-seeded Djokovic outpointed Mpetshi Perricard, who countered with 16 aces of his own, 131-102.

“This is not the ideal strategy of coming into Roland-Garros with one match on clay,” Djokovic said afterward. “That was not part of the plan. But it was a situation that I have to accept with circumstances of being injured. It is what it is. I got myself prepared for Paris, and I was always planning to come and try my best.”

Around the French Open

Men: 

• No. 8 seed Alex de Minaur of Australia opened with a 6-4, 6-4, 6-2 win over 159th-ranked British qualifier Toby Samuel, who was making his tour-level debut, in one hour and 52 minutes on Court 14. De Minaur, who reached the Roland-Garros quarterfinals two years ago, improved to 30-1 versus players ranked outside the Top 50 at Grand Slams since June 2022. He will face No. 37 Alexander Blockx of Belgium in the next round.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros)

• No. 19 seed Frances Tiafoe of the United States, needed four sets to defeat fellow American Eliot Spizzirri, ranked 91st, 6-3, 6-7 (5), 6-4, 6-3, in two hours and 56 minutes on Court 7. Tiafoe struck 12 aces and hit 45 winners overall. He converted four of six break-point chances and outpointed Spizzirri 131-108.

• After the French men got off to disappointing 2-6 start on Opening Day, No. 22 seed Arthur Rinderknech and No. 32 seed Ugo Humbert joined Quentin Halys and Valentin Royer in the win column.

Rinderknech defeated 158th-ranked qualifier Jurij Rodionov of Austria, 7-6 (5), 6-2, 6-3, in two hours and 16 minutes on Court Suzanne-Lenglen in back of 42 winners to advance to the second round against 105th-ranked Matteo Berrettini of Italy, who eliminated No. 65 Marton Fucsovics of Hungary, 6-7 (2), 7-5, 6-1, 6-2, in three hours and nine minutes, wrapping up the victory with his 14th ace.

Meanwhile, Humbert secured a straight-set, 6-3, 6-4, 6-3 victory over fellow 45th-ranked Frenchman Adrian Mannarino in two hours on Court Philippe-Chatrier with 11 aces and 31 winners to set up a second-round meeting with Halys.

• Other seeds advancing: No. 5 seed Ben Shelton of the United States, No. 10 seed Flavio Cobolli of Italy, No. 11 seed Andrey Rublev of Russia, No. 15 Casper Ruud of Norway, No. 24 seed Tommy Paul of the United States, No. 25 Francisco Cerundolo of Argentina, and No. 31 seed Brandon Nakashima of the United States.

• Among the upsets: No. 12 seed Jiri Lehecka of Czechia lost 6-3, 7-6 (3), 6-3 to 89th-ranked Pablo Carreno Busta of Spain in one hour and 57 minutes on Court 6.

• Longest match of the day and tournament: Thanasi Kokkinakis of Australia defeated Terence Atmane of France, 6-7 (5), 6-2, 4-6, 6-3, 7-5, in four hours and 18 minutes.

Women:

• Both No. 2 seed Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan and No. 3 seed and four-time French Open champion Iga Swiatek of Poland made quick work of their first-round opponents to advance. First, Swiatek opened play on Court Philippe-Chatrier with a 60-minute victory over Australian wild card Emerson Jones, ranked 136th, 6-1, 6-2. Then, Rybakina needed just 75 minutes to defeat 84th-ranked Veronika Erjavec of Slovenia.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros)

• No. 6 seed Amanda Anismiova of the United States, who was a Roland-Garros semifinalist in 2019 as a 17-year-old, needed just 69 minutes to defeat 153rd-ranked French wild card Tiantsoa Rakotomanga Rajaonah on Court Suzanne-Lenglen. Anismiova, who missed the entire clay season before now due to a wrist injury, converted seven of 14 break points and outpointed her opponent 64-38.

• No. 13 seed Jasmine Paolini of Italy, who reached the 2024 Roland-Garros final, advanced to the second round over No. 45 Dayana Yastremska of Ukraine, 7-5, 6-3, in one hour and 40 minutes on Court Simonne-Mathieu. 

• Other seeds advancing: No. 10 Karolina Muchova of Czechia, No. 23 seed Elise Mertens of Belgium, No. 25 Diana Shnaider of Russia, No. 28 Anastasia Potapova of Austria, and No. 29 Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia.

• Among the upsets: China’s Zheng Qinwen, ranked 56, who won an Olympic gold medal at Roland-Garros in the 2024 Paris Summer Games, lost to 114th-ranked Polish qualifier Maya Chwalinska, 6-4, 6-0, in 90 minutes on Court 7. Zheng, who is on the verge of dropping outside the Top 100, said in her news conference she struggled in the heat and in dealing with playing on a court with a smaller perimeter than the show courts.

Also, No. 14 seed Ekaterina Alexandrova of Russia, No. 20 seed Liudmila Samsonova of Russia, No. 24 Leylah Fernandez of Canada, and No. 31 seed Cristina Bucsa of Spain both were eliminated. 

Monday’s Roland-Garros results

Tuesday’s Roland-Garros order of play

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros)

By the numbers

French wild card Gaël Monfils begins his final Roland-Garros appearance Monday evening on Court Philippe-Chatrier in a featured night session match against fellow Frenchman Hugo Gaston, after announcing he would retire from the ATP Tour at the end of the season.

The 218th-ranked Monfils, who reached the French Open semifinals in 2008, would hold the sole record for most Roland-Garros wins among Frenchmen in Open Era with a win over the 118th-ranked wild card Gaston and advance to the second round for the 17th time in 19 appearances.

“Quotable …”

Honestly, I feel like with more titles it’s even a bit harder because everyone expects you to be ready always and play perfectly. You need to stay humble and not take anything for granted and work your way from the beginning of the tournament to play good. Especially after Rome, where it was pretty cold and much more heavy, the court seems totally different here. You need to adjust for sure.”

– World No. 3 and third seed Iga Swiatek of Poland, during her on-court interview after defeating 136th-ranked Australian wild card Emerson Jones, 6-1, 6-2, in 60 minutes on Court Philippe-Chatrier Monday afternoon. Swiatek is a four-time Roland-Garros champion.

 

Search

Brigitte Urban
Tennis photographer
camera lens

International Blogs

Dietmar Kaspar

TC Augsburg greift als Rückkehrer in der 1. Bundesliga mit Tsitsipas und Coric im Kader an

May 11, 2026

Florian Heer

Carlos Bernardes: Vom Schiedsrichterstuhl zum Challenger-Turnierdirektor

April 22, 2026

Michael Dickens

Once-In-A-Lifetime Photograph Of Jasmine Paolini Tells A Great Story

December 29, 2025

Marc Raffel

2026 wieder Herren-Weltklassetennis in Troisdorf

December 19, 2025

Podcast

Categories