Federer, Murray, Monfils to farewell retiring Wawrinka

Stan Wawrinka will step away from tennis in style on December 19, with a goodbye exhibition with friends Roger Federer, Andy Murray and Gael Monfils.

The 41-year-old treble Grand Slam champion is retiring this season and will play his last Tour dates on home courts at Gstaad the week after Wimbledon and at the Swiss Indoors in Basel in the last week of October.

Wawrinka, the current No. 110 who once stood third in the world, will say goodbye at Geneva’s Palexpo.

It promises to be one of the few times that Federer, who left the game in 2022, will wield a racquet; Murray is currently coaching Brit Jack Draper at Wimbledon while Monfils, 40 in September, is also ending his professional career this season.

The quartet of former ATP rivals and friends will play singles and doubles matches at what iis billed as “One Last Backhand,” a tribute to the monster one-hander of Wawrinka.

Proceeds from the evening will go to Leman Hope Foundation and the Roger Federer Foundation.

Wawrinka is due to begin his 29th and final Wimbledon starting on Monday but faces a big first-round hurdle in Italy’s Matteo Berrettini, the 2021 Wimbledon finalist against Novak Djokovic.

Wawrinka’s best at the All England Club was a pair of quarter-finals in 2014 and 2015.

Main photo:-Stan Wawrinka played his last Australian Open in January.