Stan Wawrinka competed with Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer and Andy Murray during what was arguably the toughest era in tennis history.

The 41-year-old Swiss icon called time on his outstanding career after losing 7-5, 7-6(2) to Jiri Lehecka in the first round of the Swiss Indoors in Basel on Tuesday evening.

Wawrinka, who played his first professional match in 2002, amassed a 590-395 record and captured 16 ATP Tour singles titles — including three Grand Slams (2014 Australian Open, 2015 French Open and 2016 US Open).

In his post-match press conference, Wawrinka said: “I’m very, very happy to have been able to live this last year.

“Obviously, I’m sad to know that I won’t be able to experience this kind of emotion anymore, that I won’t be able to play at this level, to be able to play in front of the world, to be able to play in Switzerland. But as I said, for me, in the end, I’m getting old.

“It’s been a few years now, after my big injuries, that I fought to come back to a correct level. I was out of blood in recent years. The body doesn’t always follow as much as I would like, neither does the head.

“And it’s true that I’ve always dreamed of being able to finish in my terms, to be able to finish feeling good, being competitive, and that’s what I managed to do this year.

More ATP Tour News

Want more from Tennis365? Add us as a preferred source on Google to your favourites list for tennis coverage you can trust.

“This year was exceptional, it was with a lot of emotion, of course. There was a lot of sadness at every tournament where I said goodbye, because I knew it was the end every time. But it was much more beautiful than I could have dreamed, than I could have imagined.”

Wawrinka played a combined 98 matches against the ‘Big Four’ of Djokovic, Nadal, Federer and Murray, and he amassed 22 victories.

The Swiss had the most success against Murray, having won 10 of his 23 matches against the Brit in a rivalry that spanned from 2005 to 2024.

The former world No 3 defeated Djokovic six times in 27 encounters, having first faced the Serbian in 2006, while their last meeting was in 2023.

Wawrinka won three of the 22 matches he played against Nadal between 2007 and 2019, while he earned three victories from his 26 clashes with Federer — which were spread across a 14-year period from 2005 to 2019.

Stan Wawrinka’s head-to-head records vs. the Big Four

• 10-13 (43.5%) vs. Murray
• 6-21 (22.2%) vs. Djokovic
• 3-19 (13.6%) vs. Nadal
• 3-23 (11.5%) vs. Federer