Stan Wawrinka is one of the oldest players on the ATP Tour, having dominated men’s tennis for more than two decades. As announced back in December 2025, he is currently in his last year as a professional tennis player and is set to hang up his rackets at the end of this year.
However, one of his biggest desires, to face Carlos Alcaraz, remains incomplete, and his first-round exit from the Monte-Carlo Masters has taken that chance away from him.
Stan Wawrinka’s Emotional Exit from Monte-Carlo Masters Denies Face-Off with Carlos Alcaraz
Wawrinka, who is currently the World No. 104, received a wild card at the ATP Masters 1000 event in Monte-Carlo, entering the tournament for one last time. He faced Argentine star Sebastian Baez in the very first round, and had he emerged victorious, he would have faced World No. 1 Alcaraz in the second round. However, Baez secured a 7-5, 7-5 straight-sets victory, denying the possibility of the Swiss-Spaniard clash.
Following his exit from the Dubai Tennis Championships, Wawrinka openly talked about his desire to face the Spaniard, stating, “If I have to be honest, I would like to challenge Carlos. I have played with Jannik many times, so I would like to have a different experience.”
As mentioned by Wawrinka himself, he has faced the Italian a total of six times, winning their first two meetings while losing the next four matches in a row. Their most recent meeting was at the 2023 US Open, where Sinner defeated the three-time Grand Slam champion to reach the fourth round.
Interestingly, he didn’t stop there and called it a dream, adding, “We can call it a small dream for this year; it would be stimulating to be on the other side of the net with a player like that.” The Monte-Carlo Masters would have been the venue to feature this high-octane clash, but the Argentine had different plans.
The Swiss legend broke Baez in the fourth game of the first set to take a 3-1 lead, then went on to win 4-1; however, the 25-year-old bounced back to mount an impressive comeback. From that point, he went on to win six of the next seven games, taking the first set 7-5 in around 50 minutes.
In the next set, Baez started strong, taking a 5-1 lead, breaking Wawrinka twice, and was looking to close out the match quickly. However, Wawrinka came back to level the set at 5-5 but was broken in the very next game before the Argentine star served out the match.
Following the match, Tennis TV posted an emotional clip of Wawrinka picking up his bags before bidding Monte-Carlo goodbye for the final time. What made this goodbye even more heartbreaking was the fact that he lifted the title at this venue back in 2014, defeating compatriot and good friend Roger Federer in the championship match.
The 2014 champion waves goodbye for the final time 🥹@stanwawrinka #RolexMonteCarloMasters pic.twitter.com/RjNVazN7ad
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) April 6, 2026
Wawrinka is currently playing the last few matches of his illustrious career, starting the year with a bang, reaching the third round of the Australian Open, where he lost to American Taylor Fritz. He then suffered consecutive Round of 16 exits at the Open Occitanie, ATP Rotterdam, and Dubai.
He then competed in the challenger event in Naples, Italy, where he suffered a first-round exit before his Monte-Carlo loss against Baez. The Argentine will now take on the top seed, Alcaraz, in tomorrow’s match, with PFSN’s exclusive interactive simulator predicting a 94% chance of the Spaniard reaching the next round.
