It seems that making the French Open final this season took a lot out of Stan Wawrinka. He hasn't been the same player since losing in the Roland Garros final to Rafael Nadal. Yesterday Wawrinka announced that he would not be playing in either Montreal or Cincinnati. With today's news, it has been announced that he will in fact miss the rest of the 2017 ATP season. The ranking points that he has earned should still hold up for a top-ten finish this season.
Wawrinka cited a knee injury
Wawrinka, who will join Novak Djokovic as a player taking an extended break to nurse an injury, was quoted at the ATP's website in an August 4th article.
According to Wawrinka he made his decision "After sitting together with (his) team and considering all options." He further stated that he "made the very difficult decision to end (his) 2017 season...to undergo medical intervention on (his) knee." He ended with words of optimism: "This is obviously extremely disappointing, but I’m already looking ahead and planning my recovery. I love this sport and I will work hard to get back to my top level and play for many more years. I also want to take this opportunity to thank my fans who have sent plenty of messages of support during the past few days."
Wawrinka has earned 3150 ranking points this season to date, a lot of which came from the French Open and the Australian Open where he made the final and the semifinals, respectively.
Wawrinka also has a title from Geneva this season in what was a defense in his home country. That title in 2017 represents his only one this year, a low for him since 2013 when he also won just one title. At the age of 32, you have to wonder if the knee injury is the beginning of the end for him. However, it could also be that he does in fact have "many more years" ahead on tour.
Wawrinka may still finish in the top ten
The 3150 ranking points should hold up for a ranking in the top ten at year's end. Ranking projections are tricky, but if 3150 points was applied to most weeks it would be good for a ranking of about 8th to 10th. Heading into this week, he was the fourth-best player on tour this year behind Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer, and Dominic Thiem.
Most notably, Wawrinka will not be able to defend his title at the 2017 Us Open. It will mark the first Grand Slam tournament where he will not appear in the draw where he would have been defending champion. In fact, in missing the 2017 US Open Wawrinka will miss his first US Open since 2004. Furthermore, the 2017 US Open will be the first Grand Slam since the 2005 Australian Open not to have Wawrinka's name in the main draw. That will end a streak of 50 straight Grand Slam appearances for the Swiss player.
