Stan Wawrinka withdrew from the ASB Classic this morning. Photo / AFP
Around 9am this morning, tournament boss Nicolas Lamperin got the phone call he was half expecting – but hoping not to receive.
On the other end of the line was Swiss great Stan Wawrinka, who was calling to inform Lamperin he wouldn’t be making the trip to Auckland.
Wawrinka – who won three Grand Slams during the era of the big three, beating both Rafa Nadal and Novak Djokovic in big deciders – was one of the big drawcards of the 2026 tournament, set to play here for the first time since 2007.
But in his farewell year on tour, Wawrinka has decided his workload has been too much already, with United Cup matches in Perth and Sydney, and he needs to manage his body ahead of the Australian Open.
“I know the tennis world pretty well and I had a feeling two days ago considering how well he had been doing in [the United Cup], the duration of the matches and also the fact that he had secured the Australian Open wildcard that would be a possibility,” Lamperin told the Herald.
“I checked with his agent [on Friday night] and there was no change. But I got a phone call from Stan on [Saturday] morning, who told me his decision.”
Lamperin was naturally disappointed but philosophical.
“It’s not a blow in terms of the quality of the draw, but it’s just a shame because it was his final season and I wanted to give a chance for people to see him one more time and say goodbye after such a great career and we won’t have that opportunity,” said Lamperin.
On the upside, his exit has allowed 2024 champion Alejandro Tabilo a ticket to the main draw. The Chilean world No 81 was set to play qualifying this morning, before getting the direct entry offer, which he accepted.
Two-time champion Roberto Bautista Agut has also bolstered the field. The Spaniard, who lifted the trophy here in 2016 and 2018, has got a wildcard, after Gael Monfils was promoted to the main draw, following the withdrawal of other players who have gone deep in other tournaments this week.
“When I messaged him on Friday night he called me straight away and he was over the moon,” said Lamperin.
“He said ‘Auckland means a lot to me and I’m delighted to play’.”
The 37-year-old will feature in one of the best first-round men’s matches, up against big-serving Frenchman Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard. The 2.03m Perricard reached world No 29 last February and is tipped as one to watch this year.
“He’s obviously still a raw talent,” said Lamperin. “He still needs to work on a number of aspects in this game. But once he puts everything together, he can do some massive damage on the tour.”
Defending champion Monfils (world No 69) faces Hungarian Fabian Marozsan (53) in a rematch of their 2024 opener here, when the latter prevailed in three sets.
Auckland-raised Cam Norrie (No 28) has drawn a qualifier, as he seeks an elusive first title here, while Kiwi wildcard James Watt faces American Jenson Brooksby (No 49) in his centre-court debut.
“Fabian is very talented,” said Lamperin. “He can score winners from anywhere on the court. I feel like Gael is ready, he’s prepared really hard in the offseason, so it’s a match that I’m looking forward to watching.”
The top four seeds – American Ben Shelton, Norway’s Casper Ruud, Czech Jakub Mensik and Luciano Darderi (Italy) – all have a bye to the second round and will be in action on Wednesday.
In Saturday’s qualifying action, both Kiwi wildcards exited at the first hurdle. Isaac Beecroft was competitive for periods against Frenchman Hugo Gaston but couldn’t maintain the required level for long enough, going down 6-3 6-2 in 1h 13m. Anton Shepp, who was coming off his win in the recent Hamilton ITF tournament, impressed in the first set against German Jan-Lennard Struff, who has been as high as No 33 in the world.
He recovered a 0-3 deficit to get back on serve and the match was in the balance at 30-30, 5-6, before a couple of errors gave Struff the set. Shepp had good moments in the second bracket but Struff eventually prevailed 7-5 6-2.
Michael Burgess has been a Sports Journalist for the New Zealand Herald since 2005, covering the Olympics, Fifa World Cups, and America’s Cup campaigns. He is a co-host of the Big League podcast.