Former French Open champion Stan Wawrinka bowed out of his 21st and final Roland Garros on Monday with a four-set defeat to Jesper de Jong.
Order of Play | Win with SPAR | Watch Live on DStv
The 41-year-old Swiss will hang up his racquet at the end of the current season and had hoped for one last swansong at the major he won in 2015 but his goodbye was cut short in the first round.
Wawrinka went down in just over three hours on court under a blazing sun 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 to Dutch lucky loser De Jong.
Stan 🧡#RolandGarros @stanwawrinka pic.twitter.com/zY14ZMnuDb
— Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros) May 25, 2026
After the match, Wawrinka was presented with a glass case containing a section of a clay court and two video tributes to his career were displayed on big screens around the stadium – the latter featuring messages directed to Wawrinka from former champions Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic, among other luminaries of the sport.
Ladies and gentlemen, Stan Wawrinka 🧡#RolandGarros pic.twitter.com/w7bgcL4XqW
— Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros) May 25, 2026
"It's hard, I don't want to say goodbye to you here," Wawrinka said, before also thanking the people who work behind the scenes at the tournament.
STANding ovation 🫶#RolandGarros @stanwawrinka pic.twitter.com/MpnWfdKzHq
— Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros) May 25, 2026
"Unfortunately, it's my last match at Roland Garros, but thank you."
"Me too, I love you," he added in response to cries from the spectators of 'we love you, Stan'.
"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."
It's Stan's moment, but he still has a word for Gael 🫶#RolandGarros pic.twitter.com/SZauFcegAq
— Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros) May 25, 2026
Despite the mercury tipping over 30C, there were few empty seats to spare on Court Simonne Mathieu to see the hugely-popular former world No 3 appear for the final time on the red dirt in Paris.
A crushing forehand by De Jong earned the 106th-ranked player the crucial break to get ahead 5-4 in the fourth set.
His every point roared on by the crowd, Wawrinka forced a break-back opportunity but his best efforts to prolong his stay in Roland Garros, which at one moment left him lying panting on his back, were in vain as De Jong battled into the second round.
"To be honest, it's not about me today," the 25-year-old said. "Funny story about Stan, he was playing against my coach when I was a ball kid!
"It's all about Stan today."
Thank you for all of the memories Stan. You’ll always be at home in Paris 🧡 pic.twitter.com/0nFR1F2YdW
— Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros) May 25, 2026
Spanish teenager Rafael Jodar enjoyed a winning French Open debut with a 6-1, 6-0, 6-4 dismantling of American Aleksandar Kovacevic.
Jodar has quickly climbed the rankings this year, winning a clay-court title in Marrakesh, reaching the Barcelona Open semifinals and then the quarterfinals in both Madrid and Rome.