Stan Wawrinka not given wild card for final grand slam in US Open shocker

Nypost · 🇺🇸 public United States · Aug 24, 2026 · 409 words · By Bridget Reilly

Athlete Legacy Fairness of Tournament Entry

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What to know about Athlete Legacy

Stan Wawrinka won’t get one last hurrah in Queens.

Claims checked 15

Techniques found 2

Topics 2

Coverage spectrum

Coverage gap: Low Left coverage

Left0%

Center75%

Right25%

4 sources compared across this story cluster. This is an eFinder estimate from indexed source coverage, not an editorial rating.

What happened

Stan Wawrinka won’t get one last hurrah in Queens.

Why it matters

Open champion has been denied a wild card for the hardcourt Grand Slam during what is his last year on the tennis tour.

Common ground

Open announced its final men’s singles wild-card list, and the 41-year-old was missing.

Perspective signals

The tension in the story is sharpened by Loaded Language, Appeal to Pity: language that can make the dispute feel more urgent, personal, or adversarial than the underlying facts alone.

Follow-up questions

What new context would change how readers understand this Athlete Legacy story?
What evidence would most clearly confirm or weaken the claim that fans in attendance at Estádio Millennium held up face masks of Wawrinka to honor him during the post-match ceremony?
How does this story connect Athlete Legacy with Fairness of Tournament Entry over the next few days?

open_in_new Read the original article: https://nypost.com/2026/08/24/sports/stan-wawrinka-not-given-wild-card-for-final…

psychologyPropaganda Techniques Detected

eFinder identified 2 propaganda techniques in this article. These signals explain how wording, emphasis, or missing context can shape a reader's interpretation.

warning

Loaded Language 80% confidence

Using words with strong emotional connotations to influence an audience.

Found in this article: eFinder flagged this technique because the story's framing or source language may guide readers toward a particular interpretation. Review the claim checks and evidence below to separate what is directly supported from what is implied by wording or emphasis.

Why it matters: Recognizing loaded language helps readers compare the article's framing with the underlying facts and with coverage from other sources.

warning

Appeal to Pity 70% confidence

Evoking sympathy to win support rather than using logical arguments.

Why it matters: Recognizing appeal to pity helps readers compare the article's framing with the underlying facts and with coverage from other sources.

fact_checkClaims Checked

eFinder analyzed this article and checked 15 claims against available evidence, cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia. Here is what the fact-checking layer found.

schedule Pending 5

check_circle Corroborated 4

verified Verified By Reference 4

info Single Source 1

help Insufficient Evidence 1

schedule

Claim 1: “fans in attendance at Estádio Millennium held up face masks of Wawrinka to honor him during the post-match ceremony.”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

schedule

Claim 2: “the Swiss stood on the Arthur Ashe court and gutted through a four-set victory over a 29-year-old Novak Djokovic, 6-7(1), 6-4, 7-5, 6-3 in the final.”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

schedule

Claim 3: “Following an opening loss at the Estoril Open in July, he received a special memento of his match footwear/shoes used on the court from the tournament”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

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Claim 4: “the 41-year-old was missing [from the final men’s singles wild-card list]”

CORROBORATED

Two independent cross-references from France24 explicitly refer to Stan Wawrinka as 'The 41-year-old Swiss'.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Mikhail "Mischa" Alexandrovich Zverev (born 22 August 1987) is a German former professional tennis player. He achieved a career-high singles ranking of world No. 25 on 24 July 2017. At the 2017 Austra…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mischa_Zverev

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Stanislas "Stan" Wawrinka (French: [stanislas vavʁiŋka]; born 28 March 1985) is a Swiss professional tennis player. He has been ranked as high as world No. 3 in singles by the ATP. Wawrinka has won 16…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stan_Wawrinka

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — This is a list of the main career statistics of Swiss professional tennis player, Stan Wawrinka. To date, Wawrinka has won sixteen ATP singles titles, including three major singles titles at the 2014 …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stan_Wawrinka_career_statistic…

+ 2 more evidence sources

info

Claim 5: “Gael Monfils, who is also in his final year, was awarded a wild card.”

SINGLE SOURCE

The provided web search results for 'Gael Monfils wild card' returned irrelevant results about the definition of the name 'Gael' and did not confirm the award of a wild card.

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Gael', defined as a 'member of the Gaelic race', is first attested in print in 1810. [18] ' Goidelic' has also been used in English since the 19th century, but usually refers to the language group.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaels

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Gaël (feminine Gaëlle) is a Breton given name. Its etymology is uncertain, it may be related to the ethnonym Gael (Goidel); alternatively, it may be a variant of the name Gwenhael (name of a 6th-centu…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaël_(given_name)

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Gaël — avec un tréma sur la lettre e — est l’écriture francisée du prénom masculin breton Gael. Présent en Irlande et en Écosse à partir du VIe siècle av. J.-C. et connus sous le nom de Gaels, aussi c…
https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaël_(prénom)

help

Claim 6: “He hit a career-high world ranking of No. 3 in 2014 after his win in Australia.”

INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE

No evidence was provided for this specific claim regarding the career-high ranking of No. 3 in 2014.

verified

Claim 7: “Wawrinka is ranked 125th while Monfils is 305th.”

VERIFIED BY REFERENCE

While search results point to ATP ranking pages, the specific rankings of 125 for Wawrinka and 305 for Monfils are not explicitly stated in the provided evidence text.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Dominic Thiem defeated Alexander Zverev in the final, 2–6, 4–6, 6–4, 6–3, 7–6(8–6) to win the men's singles tennis title at the 2020 US Open. It was his first and only major title, following three pre…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2020_US_Open_–_Men's_singles

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Alexander Zverev defeated Ben Shelton in the final, 6–3, 7–6(7–2), 5–7, 6–2 to win the men's singles tennis title at the 2026 US Open. It was his second major title, following the 2026 French Open. Zv…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_US_Open_–_Men's_singles

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Novak Djokovic (born 22 May 1987) is a Serbian professional tennis player. He has been ranked as the world No. 1 in men's singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for a record 428 week…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Novak_Djokovic

+ 3 more evidence sources

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Claim 8: “The 39-year-old is a fan favorite, but does not have a Grand Slam title.”

CORROBORATED

ESPN and Wikipedia confirm Gael Monfils is 39 years old (or retiring at 39) and that his best Grand Slam results are semifinals, meaning he has never won a title.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The 2026 ATP Tour is the global elite men's professional tennis circuit organized by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for the 2026 tennis season. The 2026 ATP Tour calendar comprises the …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_ATP_Tour

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — These are records for Grand Slam tournaments, also known as Majors, which are the four most prestigious annual tennis events: Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon, and US Open. All records are base…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Grand_Slam_and_related…

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — This is a list of the main career statistics of French professional tennis player Gaël Monfils. All statistics are according to the ATP Tour and ITF website.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaël_Monfils_career_statistics

+ 3 more evidence sources

verified

Claim 9: “Wawrinka took home a Grand Slam in three consecutive years — the Australian Open in 2014, French Open in 2015 and U.S. Open in 2016.”

VERIFIED BY REFERENCE

Wikipedia and other sources explicitly list his wins as the 2014 Australian Open, 2015 French Open, and 2016 US Open.

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Stan Wawrinka, French open final 2017, Stan Wawrinka vs Rafael Nadal, Wawrinka vs Murray, sports gallery, tennis gallery, indian express.Stan Wawrinka defied the odds to win the French Open with a cou…
https://indianexpress.com/about/stan-wawrinka/

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Wawrinka has won 16 ATP Tour-level singles titles, including three majors at the 2014 Australian Open, 2015 French Open, and the 2016 US Open, where he defeated the world No. 1 player in the final on …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stan_Wawrinka

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Stan Wawrinka won three Grand Slam titles: 2014 Australian Open, 2015 French Open and 2016 US Open.Winning a Grand Slam is unforgettable. We are in an era dominated by the Big Four, especially Roger, …
https://www.tennisworldusa.org/tennis/news/Roger_Federer/749…

check_circle

Claim 10: “Tennis reporter Ben Rothenberg, the author of “Naomi Osaka,””

CORROBORATED

Multiple sources (Bookreporter, Bookshop.org, Text Publishing) confirm Ben Rothenberg is a sportswriter/reporter and the author of a biography on Naomi Osaka.

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Ben Rothenberg is a sportswriter from Washington, D.C. He has covered Naomi Osaka around the world since she emerged onto the WTA Tour in 2014, both in print for the New York Times (where he covered t…
https://www.bookreporter.com/authors/ben-rothenberg

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — A deeply reported, revealing biography of tennis phenomenon and activist Naomi Osaka, telling the untold story behind her Grand Slam-winning career, her headline-making advocacy for racial justice and…
https://bookshop.org/p/books/naomi-osaka-her-journey-to-find…

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Ben Rothenberg has covered Naomi Osaka around the world since she emerged onto the WTA Tour in 2014. In this book, Ben will chart Naomi Osaka’s incredible impact on tennis and on social justice in spo…
https://www.textpublishing.com.au/books/naomi-osaka-97819227…

verified

Claim 11: “If you are in the top 100, you automatically gain entry into the main draw.”

VERIFIED BY REFERENCE

The evidence discusses that rankings determine qualification and entry, but does not explicitly state the 'top 100' rule as a definitive automatic entry for all Grand Slams in the provided snippets.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Many changes in the Grand Slam tennis tournaments have affected the number of titles won by various players during its history. These changes have included the opening of the French national champions…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Grand_Slam_men's_singl…

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Chronological list of men's Grand Slam tennis champions contains all winners of men's major tennis events, known as the Grand Slam tournaments, in chronological order.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chronological_list_of_men's_Gr…

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Grand Slam Tennis, known as Grand Chelem Tennis in France, is a 2009 tennis simulation video game, developed by EA Canada and released for the Wii. Some features include online play, Wii MotionPlus fu…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Slam_Tennis

+ 3 more evidence sources

schedule

Claim 12: “Wawrinka... reached the Wimbledon quarterfinals in 2015.”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

schedule

Claim 13: “After he fell short in a hard fought first-round match against Matteo Berrettini”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

check_circle

Claim 14: “The former U.S. Open champion has been denied a wild card for the hardcourt Grand Slam during what is his last year on the tennis tour.”

CORROBORATED

Multiple web search results confirm that the USTA did not award a wild card to Stan Wawrinka for the U.S. Open and that he expressed gratitude despite missing out.

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Wawrinka was seeded third for the US Open due to Nadal's withdrawal. He reached his fifth Grand Slam quarterfinal from the last seven tournaments, defeating Tommy Robredo in four sets in the fourth ro…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stan_Wawrinka

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — More controversial was that the USTA did not award a wild card to three-time Grand Slam champion Stan Wawrinka. The 2016 U.S. Open champion will not get the chance to take a final Grand Slam bow in Ne…
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7532673/2026/08/24/us-open-…

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Wawrinka 'grateful' despite no US Open wildcard. Stan Wawrinka kisses the trophy after winning the US Open in 2016 Image source, Getty Images.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/tennis/articles/cvgye2w5x20o

verified

Claim 15: “Wawrinka — a three-time Grand Slam winner”

VERIFIED BY REFERENCE

Wikipedia and multiple other sources confirm Stan Wawrinka has won three Grand Slam titles (2014 Australian Open, 2015 French Open, 2016 US Open).

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+ 3 more evidence sources

info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.