Brad Gilbert admits he made a mistake with Stan Wawrinka, ‘one of my dummy moves ever’

Stan Wawrinka’s tennis career has come to an end.

Jiri Lehecka, the world number 21 and Miami Open finalist, defeated Stan Wawrinka in the Basel Open first round on Tuesday evening.

“I think today is about celebrating Stan’s legacy, celebrating his careers, celebrating whatever he did,” the Czech player said in the aftermath of his 7-5, 7-6 victory on Centre Court.

A number of players have since congratulated Wawrinka on his stellar career, including 20-time major champion and compatriot Roger Federer.

Brad Gilbert has also celebrated Wawrinka’s career in a social media message, while also expressing the mistake he made earlier in his coaching career in regards to the three-time major champion.

Brad Gilbert was offered the chance to coach Stan Wawrinka

Brad Gilbert remains one of the most legendary figures in tennis; a former world number four who has coached a collection of players to eight total Grand Slam titles.

The American has coached some of the biggest stars in tennis, including Andre Agassi, Andy Murray and Coco Gauff.

Brad Gilbert’s Grand Slam titles as a coach

• Andre Agassi – 1994 US Open, 1995 Australian Open, 1999 French Open, 1999 US Open, 2000 Australian Open, 2001 Australian Open
• Andy Roddick – 2003 US Open
• Coco Gauff – 2023 US Open

It seems Gilbert was also granted the opportunity to work with Stan Wawrinka, but ultimately missed out on coaching the Swiss legend.

“Just watched Stan Wawrinka play his last match at Basel against Lehecka. What a great career, just such an unbelievable ball striker, beautiful backhand,” Gilbert said in a video message posted on X [formerly Twitter]. “Just want to say congratulations to the Stanimal, we’ll miss you.

“Probably one of the guys that turned around his career at 25, 26, more than anybody I’ve ever seen, and Magnus Norman did an incredible job when they hooked up together.

He [Wawrinka] basically had never been top 15, survived a big knee injury early in his 20s. To win three Grand Slams, beat the number one player in the world in all Grand Slam finals, I mean, just a first ballot Hall of Famer, a class act, and just a great champion.”

Gilbert went on to reveal the coaching opportunity that passed him by in the late 2000s.

“And probably one of my dummy moves ever – that year before Norman took over, the agent asked me about coaching him [Wawrinka], and I had started working with Sam Querrey and I was maybe going to see if I could do both of them, but definitely a misplay.

“But full credit to Magnus Norman for doing an amazing job. They stayed together for the rest of their career, and just an incredible, class player, great career and I feel like Stanimal just willed himself to being the player that he became. Congrats buddy. Tennis is lesser for seeing you retire.”

Norman, the 2000 Roland Garros finalist, worked with Wawrinka on three separate occasions: from 2013 to 2017, 2018 to 2020, and 2022 to 2026.

Norman has also worked with Thomas Johansson and Robin Soderling. The Swedish mentor is set to become Jannik Sinner’s head coach from the start of the 2027 season.

Magnus Norman’s coaching career

• Thomas Johansson (2008)
• Robin Söderling (2009–2010)
• Stan Wawrinka (2013–2017, 2018–2020, 2022–2026)
• Jannik Sinner (2027-)

Stan Wawrinka reflects on his tennis career in retirement speech

After losing to Lehecka on Tuesday, Wawrinka discussed his immediate feelings while speaking to reporters in Basel.

“I have always dreamed of being able to finish feeling good, being competitive, and that’s what I was able to do,” the former world number three stated.

“This year has been amazing with a great amount of emotion, a lot of sadness at every tournament where you say goodbye.

“But it has been much more beautiful than I could have ever dreamed, than I could have imagined.

“I have received so much love, I have lived through so many emotions in my last year at 41, feeling competitive.

“I have played top players, I have played young players as well. I have had very good matches. For me, it’s an ideal ending.”

Wawrinka has now joined two other tennis icons in retiring from the sport this year: Gael Monfils and David Goffin.

Sorana Cirstea, who plays on the WTA Tour, is also expected to retire in the coming weeks.