Stan Wawrinka waves emotional goodbye in final French Open
PARIS — Stan Wawrinka waved a fond goodbye to the French Open after losing in the first round on Monday.
Read more Even After a Strait of Hormuz Deal, Moving 1,500 Ships Won’t Be Easy
The 41-year-old Swiss, the 2015 champion and 2017 finalist, is retiring at the end of the season. He made his final Roland Garros appearance 21 years after his first.
Jesper de Jong finished off Wawrinka 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 with a whipped forehand winner, then urged the fans to applaud Wawrinka, whose face was almost as red as the baking-hot clay. Temperatures in sun-soaked Paris hit 33 degrees C (91 F).
“It’s hard, it’s hard to say goodbye to you here,” an emotional Wawrinka said. “It’s because of Roland Garros that I wanted to become a tennis player.”
He was given an ovation at Court Simonne-Mathieu, where he got fans to do a Mexican wave before leaving. He was scheduled to face Arthur Fils but the rising French star pulled out of the tournament with a hip issue.
Wawrinka got the crowd going, at times asking for more encouragement with a broad grin. He applauded the spectators back, tapping his racket after winning a point. One fan held up a sign with “Stan the Man” written on it, another with “Stan still the Man.”
He knows it will be hard to let go — although he still has Wimbledon and the U.S. Open to come.
“For more than 20 years I experienced these emotions, you never want it to stop,” Wawrinka said. ”I have given everything for this sport.”
There’s a new face making waves on the ATP Tour who might be able to rise to the challenge of beating top-ranked Jannik Sinner.
Rafael Jodar, a 19-year-old Spaniard, continued to impress in his Roland Garros debut, dropping just five games in a 6-1, 6-0, 6-4 rout of American opponent Aleksandar Kovacevic on Monday despite boiling heat at the clay-court Grand Slam.
The last man to concede fewer games in a French Open debut was Novak Djokovic, who allowed three to Robby Ginepri in 2005.
Tennis players say they haven’t experienced conditions this hot at Roland Garros since the Paris Olympics.
And the 2024 Olympics were held in July and August.
Temperatures for the opening two days of the clay-court Grand Slam have soared to 33 degrees C (91 F) — far beyond normal for late May in the French capital. And it’s forecast to stay that way for the entire first week.
Besides making it uncomfortable for fans and players alike, the sultry conditions have also created faster conditions on court — changing the pace of the game.
“It is much different. Maybe it was that hot in the Olympics but the balls were different, so I wouldn’t treat it as the same tournament,” four-time French Open champion Iga Swiatek said after routing Emerson Jones, 6-1, 6-2, in the first round on Monday.
Players have been putting bags of ice around their necks on changeovers to stay cool, while fans refreshed themselves under sprinklers.
When workers water the clay courts between sets, they have taken to directing their hoses at spectators begging to be doused, too.
“I don’t remember the last time it was so hot at Roland Garros,” Russian-born Australian player Daria Kasatkina said after beating Zeynep Sonmez 6-4, 6-4. “Maybe one day. But we’re going to have it for the whole week.”
Kasatkina said the energy-sapping temperatures made for more up-and-down matches.
“You can suddenly just get out of the bench and feel that your focus dropped,” she said. “So this is a battle which you have to also win. … Whoever adapts better to today’s conditions gets it.”
Canadian player Gabriel Diallo said the heat was the main reason why he retired midway through his match against James Duckworth on Sunday.
Both Andrey Rublev and opponent Ignacio Buse called for the trainer on separate occasions during the second set of their 3-hour, 39-minute match on Monday, which Rublev won in four sets.
Buse took a medical timeout and had salts and minerals added to his water bottle as a stethoscope was placed on his chest. Rublev received treatment a few games later.
Also during the same match, a weary looking ball girl had to be helped off the court and received medical attention.
The French Open is usually cool compared to the heat at the Australian Open and US Open.
But like in Australia and New York, the French Open has adopted an extreme weather policy.
If the Wet Bulb Globe Temperature (WBGT) — which takes into account temperature, humidity, sun, wind and other factors — reaches 30.1 degrees C (86 F) or higher, 10-minute cooling breaks can be installed between the second and third sets for women’s matches and between the third and fourth sets for men’s matches.
If the WBGT hits 32.2 C (90 F), play is suspended. It would require an air temperature of about 38 C (100 F) for play to be suspended.
Some players were embracing the hotter air.
“I’ve always preferred hot and lively conditions to chilly on a clay court, because I feel like I can bring a little bit more of my all-court tennis on this type of surface,” Australian player Alex de Minaur said after beating Toby Samuel, 6-4, 6-4, 6-2.
“It’s easier to be a little bit more aggressive. The ball is jumping. I don’t necessarily have to use as much spin or heaviness, and I can let the conditions do the job for me. And it’s quite physical. I don’t mind the heat,” De Minaur added.
Same goes for American player Alex Michelsen, who eliminated Alexander Shevchenko in straight sets.
“It’s definitely good for us Americans,” Michelsen said. “Generally we’re big serve, big forehand, big ground game and like to play offense. When it’s super hot, the ball is moving through the air very fast . . . I was so happy when I saw the forecast.”
Post Comment