Stan Wawrinka's last Grand Slam match ended where his final major title was won. Matteo Berrettini beat the 41-year-old Swiss 7-6(4), 7-6(3), 6-0 in the first round of the US Open on Monday, closing a New York record that began in 2005 and eventually produced the 2016 championship.
The straight-sets score tells only part of the match. Wawrinka recovered a break in the opening set and pushed both of the first two sets into tie-breaks. Berrettini won each of them, then pulled away in the third as Wawrinka's resistance faded.
For Wawrinka, the importance was not a late-career ranking calculation or a possible route through the draw. It was the chance to finish his Grand Slam journey in front of the crowd that had seen one of his defining victories.
Two tie-breaks kept the contest alive
Berrettini was the steadier player when the first two sets narrowed to their decisive points. Wawrinka broke back for 5-5 in the opener, but Berrettini took the tie-break 7-4. Rain briefly interrupted the second set before Wawrinka again found a way to stay level, including a volley winner that brought the crowd to its feet at 6-6.
The second tie-break went to Berrettini 7-3. At that stage the Italian had won the two passages in which a close set is reduced to a handful of points. That distinction matters when reading a 7-6, 7-6 scoreline. Wawrinka had competed across most of the first two sets, but Berrettini had controlled the moments that actually decided them.
The third set was different. Berrettini won it 6-0 and finished the match with a drop-shot winner. It turned a competitive farewell into a clear result without erasing what had happened during the opening two sets.
Readers who want the scoring mechanics can use BetOwl's guide to tennis set and game markets. A tie-break normally decides a set, but the individual points inside it are not counted as ordinary games when the final game total is recorded.
New York gave Wawrinka his defining late peak
Wawrinka finishes with a 46-17 US Open singles record from 18 main-draw appearances. He reached the semi-finals in 2013 and 2015 before winning the title in 2016, when he beat Novak Djokovic in four sets in the final.
That championship completed a rare three-major sequence. Wawrinka won the 2014 Australian Open, the 2015 French Open and the 2016 US Open. The ATP records 16 tour-level titles in total and a career-high ranking of world No. 3.
The timing of those victories shaped his reputation. Each major final required him to defeat the reigning world No. 1. Rafael Nadal was beaten in Melbourne, while Djokovic lost to Wawrinka in Paris and New York. Wawrinka did not replace the leading players of that era across an entire season, but at his best he could break through them on the sport's largest stages.
That is why this farewell carried more weight than an ordinary first-round defeat. The US Open was not simply another stop in his final season. It was the place where his last major triumph showed that the earlier Australian and French Open wins were part of a sustained elite peak.
A late wild card completed the farewell
Wawrinka had not initially been certain of a place in the main draw. The ATP reported that he received a late wild card, allowing him to complete his final appearances at all four Grand Slam tournaments during his retirement season.
His first US Open main draw came 21 years earlier. Monday's match was his 63rd singles appearance at the tournament. After it, he thanked the crowd for the support that had helped keep him competing into his forties.
The ceremony also gave Berrettini an awkward task. He had to close out a match against a popular former champion while the atmosphere increasingly belonged to the player about to leave. The Italian handled that pressure, praised Wawrinka afterwards and moved into the second round against Mariano Navone.
Berrettini and Wawrinka had also met at Wimbledon two months earlier, when Berrettini won a four-set match lasting more than four hours. Their New York meeting was shorter and more decisive, but the repeated pairing gave Wawrinka's final two Grand Slam appearances a curious symmetry: the same opponent ended both.
What the result means, and what it does not
The result removes Wawrinka from the tournament and advances Berrettini. It does not by itself prove how far Berrettini will go. First-round form, even against a three-time major champion, is only one piece of evidence in a two-week event.
That distinction is useful for anyone following the draw or tournament markets. A recognisable name can make a result feel more predictive than it is. Wawrinka entered New York ranked outside the leading group and in the final season of his career. Berrettini still had to win the points in front of him, but later opponents will present different physical and tactical demands.
Our tennis match betting guide explains why surface, fitness, draw position and price all need to be considered together. The tennis retirement rules guide is also relevant during a physically demanding major, because an unfinished match can be settled differently by different bookmakers.
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Wawrinka's professional season is not finished, but his Grand Slam chapter is. New York gave him a final match, two competitive sets and a full crowd for the goodbye. Berrettini supplied the result. The occasion belonged to Wawrinka.