By Field Level Media
Oct 27 (Field Level Media) – Three-time Grand Slam winner Stan Wawrinka played the final match of his career Tuesday, falling 7-5, 7-6 (2) to eighth-seeded Czech Jiri Lehecka in the first round of the Swiss Indoors Basel in his native Switzerland.
Wawrinka announced in December that 2026 would be his last season, and the ATP 500 event in Basel marked his final tournament. He received a tribute from the fans who came to watch their countryman compete one final time.
Also in Basel, No. 1 seed Ben Shelton edged fellow American Aleksandar Kovacevic 6-7 (4), 7-6 (3), 7-6 (4). Shelton was credited with 44 aces and saved all four break points he faced in a match that lasted two hours, 38 minutes.
No. 2 seed Arthur Fils eked past fellow Frenchman Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard 7-6 (5), 7-5, and Spanish third seed Rafael Jodar swept Chile’s Alejandro Tabilo 6-4, 6-2. Other winners included No. 10 seed Hubert Hurkacz of Poland, Swiss wild card Jerome Kym and Alex Michelsen.
Erste Bank Open
No. 1 seed Alexander Zverev of Germany had to save four match points in the third-set tiebreaker to stave off Spanish wild card Martin Landaluce 7-5, 3-6, 7-6 (11) in first-round action in Vienna, Austria.
Landaluce saved two match points in the 12th game of the deciding set to force the tiebreaker. Landaluce then went ahead at 6-5, 8-7, 9-8 and 10-9 only for Zverev to battle back each time. Zverev, the World No. 2, won 53 of 72 first- serve points (73.6%).
No. 2 seed Carlos Alcaraz of Spain, playing in Vienna for the first time since 2021, defeated Russia’s Karen Khachanov 6-4, 7-6 (5), with a 36-15 edge in winners. No. 4 seed Flavio Cobolli of Italy battled past Bulgarian wild card Grigor Dimitrov 6-4, 3-6, 6-3. No. 7 seed Tommy Paul, French qualifier Adrian Mannarino and Great Britain’s Cameron Norrie also won their openers.
(–Field Level Media)
