Australian Open 2026: Tennis world erupts over former champ's post

Tennis fans and commentators are paying tribute to Stan Wawrinka after the 40-year-old played his last Australian Open match on Saturday night. And the three-time grand slam champ is being commended for a brilliant sign-off in which he shared a beer on-court with Australian Open boss Craig Tiley.

Wawrinka announced late last year that 2026 will be his final year on tour before he retires. The 2014 champion was given a wildcard to play the Australian Open, and vindicated the decision as he marched into the third round.

His fairytale run was ended by ninth seed Taylor Fritz on Saturday night, but not before he took a set off his much younger opponent. Fritz eventually prevailed 7-6 (7-5) 2-6 6-4 6-4 in two hours and 46 minutes, bringing down the curtain on Wawrinka's Australian Open career that started in 2004.

The Swiss legend spoke brilliantly during a farewell speech on court, and then shared a hilarious moment with Tiley in which he raced to the side of the court to grab some beers out of an esky. "If you don't mind I would like to share a beer with Craig," he said. "Cheers everybody and thank you so much."

The crowd went nuts as Wawrinka and Tiley swigged their beers. The moment was all the talk of social media, with many feeling it was the perfect way for Wawrinka to sign off.

The 'Tennis Letter' account wrote: "Stan Wawrinka pulls a Stone Cold Steve Austin and pulls out a beer during his last Australian Open. What a legend."

Even more hilarious was the fact Wawrinka would have had to come pre-prepared with the beers in case he lost. One person wrote: "Here's to the legend. Stan gave us so many iconic moments at Melbourne. Memories we’ll never forget."

Stan Wawrinka bids fond farewell to Australian Open

He said during his speech: "I won my first grand slam here and I've always enjoyed being back. I've always had so much support and the reason why I was still playing is because of you (the fans), because of the love of the game, the emotion you give me. I'm sad to leave, but it's been an amazing journey."

Wawrinka won the Australian Open in 2014, before adding a French Open title in 2015 and US Open in 2016. He reached a career high of World No.3 in 2014, and is one of very few players to win a grand slam during the height of the 'Big 3' era of Roger Federer, Rafa Nadal and Novak Djokovic.

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