Olympic Games 2024
The old man and the game: How I suffered with Stan Wawrinka
The highlight of the games in Paris? A personal reflection on the events of the past two weeks.
In the Olympic celebration, in the joy of winning a medal, everyone is (almost) equal. The real dramas are written with defeats. The event in Paris that will remain in my memory: the suffering of Stan Wawrinka.
The sun is not shining over the tennis world heritage site of Roland Garros. It is burning and glowing from the sky. Not a breath of wind brings any cooling. Because it has rained in the last few days, the heat is charged with humidity. A good 40 degrees. The tropical heat is affecting Stan Wawrinka like a cyclist climbing Mont Ventoux. It is robbing him of the energy he needs as fuel for his aggressive power tennis and for his self-confidence. His charisma is extinguished.
Stan Wawrinka lost to Alexei Popyrin.
Image: Laurent Gillieron / EPA
From the first second it is clear that he cannot win against the 14-year-younger Australian Alexei Popyrin (and will lose 4:6, 5:7). His steps become heavier and heavier. Even at his best he has never known the elegance, the lightness of being that made Roger Federer world famous.
Now his game is a reminder of the hardships of life. But he doesn’t give up. He rebels against fate. The audience suffers with him. Cheers him on. Celebrates every point he wins. But age, the heat and the opponent are stronger.
Olympic reporter Klaus Zaugg.
Image: zvg
Stan Wawrinka reminds us of the words of the Greek tragic poet Sophocles: Only the gods are unaffected by the burden of old age. When asked in the shade a good hour after the match and the end of his Olympic adventure what he will do next, he rejects any thoughts of retirement. Looking ahead, he does not speak of weeks or months. Rather, he speaks of years that he still hopes to play.
With Hemingway we can say: The old man and the game. Stan Wawrinka will only be 40 years old next March. Letting go and returning to a normal life will not be easy for him. So he keeps playing, always playing. And why not cultivate what is his passion for as long as possible? “Men Who Die in Their Boots” is the title of a western from the 1950s. Perhaps that is Stan Wawrinka’s tennis fate too.
We shouldn’t be surprised if he competes again in Los Angeles in 2028. No other sport honors its legends like tennis, granting them a wild card to take a place on the world stage that they haven’t had for a long time. Stan Wawrinka won the US Open in 2016. That should actually be enough for a wild card at the next games in America in 2028.
