DUBAI: Forty-year-old Stan Wawrinka, the three-time Grand Slam winner who is competing in his final Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships this week, rolled back the years on Centre Court to overcome Lebanese wildcard Benjamin Hassan in straight sets and become the oldest player to win a match in the Dubai tournament’s 34-year history.
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Wawrinka’s record was previously held by his Swiss compatriot, the legendary Roger Federer, so it was fitting then that the 20-time Grand Slam winner was inside the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Stadium to cheer on his fellow Olympic gold medalist.
“I’m not sure it’s the best record of his to have,” Wawrinka joked in his on-court interview as fans switched from cheering his every move to applauding an on-screen image of Federer, who won the title here eight times, including his last at the ripe old age of 37 in 2019. “(The appreciation of the fans) is one of the reasons why I have kept playing for so long — to enjoy these matches and these tournaments. I’m super grateful to all those who came out tonight.”
Wawrinka looked far from a player ready to hang up his racket as he beat Hassan 7-5, 6-3 and without dropping a single service game. That is not to say the German-born Hassan failed to put up a fight, but only that whenever he got close — and he forced three break-points across the two sets — Wawrinka seemed to go up a level. In both games where the Swiss looked like he might see his serve broken, he pulled an ace out of his bag to finish the match with nine aces overall.
