No last dance at Flushing Meadows
Stan Wawrinka wanted one more walk onto Arthur Ashe. He will not get it. The three-time Grand Slam champion was left off the U.S. Open wild-card list announced over the weekend, and the 41-year-old Swiss will not enter this week’s qualifying either. His Grand Slam career ends without a goodbye in New York.
Wawrinka said back in December that 2026 would be his final season. The year gave him one decent run, a third round at the Australian Open, then two quick exits. He lost in the first round at Roland Garros and again at Wimbledon, both in four sets. He sits 127th in the world.
Ten years ago he beat the field on this same court to win the 2016 title. That version of Wawrinka, all shoulder and backhand, is the one the USTA chose not to invite back.
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How the wild cards were handed out
There is no rulebook for U.S. Open wild cards. They usually go to American players, to names returning from injury, or to popular figures closing out a career. Wawrinka fit the third category and still missed.
Gael Monfils did not. The Frenchman, 39, also retiring at the end of 2026, is ranked 307th, and he got in through the reciprocal wild card the French Tennis Federation controls. The USTA hands one entry each to the French and Australian federations. Australia’s went to Alexei Popyrin, then moved to Dane Sweeny once Popyrin climbed into the main draw after Alejandro Davidovich Fokina withdrew.
The rest of the list leans young and American. Michael Zheng, 22, who qualified for each of the first three Grand Slam events this year, took one. J.J. Wolf took another. Martin Damm and Sebastian Gorzny, both 22, were next. Jack Kennedy, the boys’ under-18s national champion, got the last of that batch.
One spot held back
The USTA kept a card in reserve. Damm moved into the main draw when Ethan Quinn withdrew on Aug. 20, and his wild card went to Darwin Blanch. The final spot stayed unclaimed until Saturday, when it landed with Patrick Kypson, another former Boys’ 18s national champion.
Wawrinka’s name never came up.
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