Roger Federer's compatriot & former champion Stan Wawrinka among first set of wildcard awardees at Australian Open 2025
Even though the 2024 season has just finished, the 2025 season is not far off. The first Major tournament of the year, the 2025 Australian Open, is provisionally set to begin with the qualifying rounds on January 6.
The excitement among fans is growing and will only increase as organizers have announced 11 of the 16 wildcard participants for the upcoming edition at Melbourne Park.
One of the most notable names among the 11 is that of former World No. 3 and 2014 Australian Open champion Stan Wawrinka. The Swiss is no longer among the top-ranked players in the World as his ranking has dropped to 161. Constant injuries have led to the loss of form and ranking for the 3-time Major winner. However, Wawrinka receiving the wildcard is not surprising as past champions have often been extended the courtesy.
Among the other wildcard entrants, 8 of them are Australian. This is not out of the ordinary, as Majors give out wildcards to local players to allow them to play at the highest level. On the men's side, the Australian wildcards are James McGabe, Christian Schoolkate, and Li Tu. On the women's side, the list includes Ajla Tomljanovic, Talia Gibson, Maya Joint, Emerson Jones, and Daria Saville.
Apart from Wawrinka, two other players, who are not of Australian nationality, have received wildcards in the initial list. They are Kasidit Samrej of Thailand and Zhang Shuai of China.
Wawrinka remains the only player to win a Major with wins over Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic
Stan Wawrinka did not have much success while playing against the trio of Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, and Roger Federer. The Swiss player could only win 12 of the 63 matches he contested against the "Big Three."
However, in his 2014 Australian Open title run, Wawrinka achieved the distinction of defeating both Djokovic and Nadal en route to winning a Major, a feat even his great compatriot Roger Federer could not achieve.
During that 2014 run in Melbourne, Wawrinka won a five-set thriller against Djokovic in the quarterfinal, avenging his loss against the Serb which he faced in the same round of the same event in 2013. He then went on to defeat Nadal in four sets in the final to clinch his maiden Major title.
The next year, Wawrinka also achieved the distinction of winning the French Open, with wins over both Federer (quarterfinal) and Djokovic (in the final)