Stan Wawrinka leads all other players in tennis in one area since 1973 following his retirement from the sport

Stan Wawrinka brought the curtain down on his tennis career after losing to world number 21 Jiri Lehecka in the Basel Open first round.

Lehecka, a finalist at the Miami Open earlier this year, triumphed 7-5, 7-6 in the Swiss city, ending Wawrinka’s professional tennis career.

Wawrinka retires as one of the greatest players in tennis history: a three-time Grand Slam champion, Olympic gold medallist and former world number three.

He is also the only player in tennis history to have defeated Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic en route to a Grand Slam title. Wawrinka accomplished this feat at the 2014 Australian Open, defeating Djokovic in the quarter-finals and Nadal in the final.

The Swiss superstar also set another impressive record during his time on the ATP Tour.

Stan Wawrinka’s stellar tennis record

For all Wawrinka achieved on the ATP circuit, he missed out on accomplishing one key goal – the world number one ranking.

The closest Wawrinka came to claiming the top spot was after the 2014 Australian Open; the Swiss star rose to a career-high ranking of world number three following his first Grand Slam triumph in Melbourne.

Wawrinka’s failure to achieve the number one ranking has a silver lining.

According to statisticians OptaAce, Wawrinka has claimed the most Men’s SIngles Grand Slam match wins of any player not to hold the world number one spot, since the ATP rankings were first published in 1973.

Wawrinka claimed 160 Grand Slam victories in singles during his career, more than Tomas Berdych, David Ferrer, Marin Cilic, Guillermo Vilas and Alexander Zverev.

The most Grand Slam match wins by players who have never held the world number one ranking

• Stan Wawrinka – 160
• Tomas Berdych – 146
• David Ferrer – 145
• Marin Cilic – 143
• Guillermo Vilas – 138
• Alexander Zverev – 138

Wawrinka claimed his final Grand Slam victories at the Australian Open earlier this year. He defeated Laslo Djere and Arthur Gea before losing to Taylor Fritz in four sets.

Stan Wawrinka’s first Grand Slam match win

At the 2005 French Open, 19-year-old Wawrinka secured his first-ever match wins in the main draw of a Grand Slam event.

Wawrinka, who came through qualifying and was competing in his first major main draw, defeated 2004 Olympic gold medallist Nicolas Massu in the first round, triumphing 6-7, 6-2, 6-2, 6-4.

The Swiss youngster then knocked out fellow qualifier James Blake, 6-7, 5-7, 6-1, 6-3, 6-4.

Mariano Puerta ended Wawrinka’s run, winning 1-6, 6-3, 6-1, 6-4 in the third round.