Stan Wawrinka has so far been denied the chance to play against Carlos Alcaraz, but he should be hopeful of a first meeting soon.
Wawrinka is currently playing his final season on the ATP Tour, with the 40-year-old having already made the decision to retire from tennis.
At the other end of his career, Alcaraz is dominating men’s tennis, recently becoming the youngest man to complete the career Grand Slam at 22.
Alcaraz has already defeated many legendary players throughout his fantastic career so far, but has never been able to test his skills against Wawrinka.
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Stan Wawrinka looks likely to play Carlos Alcaraz before retiring
Wawrinka would love to take on the Spaniard before hanging up his racket, having told Reem Abulleil ahead of his run in Dubai: “I think if you look at the level right now of Jannik [Sinner] and Carlos, they’ve been a crazy high level.
“You have Novak [Djokovic] still in the fight with them and as a fan of tennis in general, it’s amazing to watch that.
“I had the chance to play Jannik many times, last few times was really tough. And hopefully I can play Carlos once before I stop playing.”
While he is admittedly rapidly running out of time, Wawrinka looks likely to have his wish of playing against Alcaraz granted sooner rather than later.
Wawrinka broke tennis records in Dubai, having received a wildcard to play in the tournament, as he did for the Australian Open, Montpellier and Rotterdam.
With more wildcards inevitable thanks to his impressive displays in his farewell season, his chances of playing against Alcaraz will increase.
Of course, further boosting their chances of a meeting is the very likely possibility of the Spaniard reaching the latter stages of every tournament he plays in.
He has gone the distance in both of his events in 2026 so far, with Alcaraz playing Indian Wells next, where he could meet Wawrinka should he earn another wildcard.
Incidentally, Wawrinka has a 2-4 win-loss record against Sinner, while the Swiss veteran has lost 21 of his 27 matches against fellow legend Djokovic.
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Stan Wawrinka on track to achieve his ATP ranking goal
The remaining ATP tournaments of 2026 won’t be quick to pander to Wawrinka in terms of his Alcaraz wish, but they do have an easy choice involving the icon every single time.
He is fully deserving of any wildcard he so wishes, having done more than enough to enjoy one last hurrah before retiring and never returning to those tournaments.
And he’s even made a huge head start in one of his other goals before retiring, which is to finish the year in the ATP top 100.
Currently ranked 99th, he recently became the first 40-something to be ranked in the top 100 since Roger Federer in 2022.
| Tournament | Round | Result |
| United Cup | Final (with Team Switzerland) | L vs. Poland |
| Australian Open | Third round | L vs. Taylor Fritz |
| Montpellier | Round of 16 | L vs. Felix Auger-Aliassime |
| Rotterdam | Round of 16 | L vs. Alex de Minaur |
| Dubai | Round of 16 | L vs. Daniil Medvedev |
He may have just exited Dubai, but he fell to third seed Daniil Medvedev, following defeats to other high-profile players elsewhere.
Fritz was the ninth seed at the Australian Open, while top seeds Felix Auger-Aliassime and Alex de Minaur won the Montpellier and Rotterdam titles respectively after knocking out Wawrinka.
His phenomenal career involves a rise to world number three and 16 ATP titles, including three Grand Slams, but he’s clearly not finished just yet.
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