Stan Wawrinka took the first set from Matteo Berrettini in a Wimbledon 2026 round one match on Tuesday, June 30, and the 41-year-old was level at 4-4 in the second set when play reached the latest checkpoint. The Swiss player won the opener in a tie-break after saving three break points in the third game, then missed his first three set points before Berrettini double-faulted to leave it at 8-7 and Wawrinka finished the set with a big first serve.
That made the match matter beyond the scoreboard. Wawrinka is playing what is being described as his final Wimbledon before his planned retirement later this year, a last run at a tournament he has long treated as one of the sport’s defining stages. Berrettini, a former Wimbledon runner-up, arrived after showing excellent form at the French Open before injury halted him again, which gave this opener a second layer: one veteran trying to make a final mark, another still trying to keep his body from cutting short a comeback.
The second set had not yet produced a break point for either man, and that matched the feel of the opening set. Neither player was giving much away, but Wawrinka had already shown the sharper edge when it mattered most, especially in the tie-break. For Berrettini, the problem was familiar: he had the level to push the match, but not yet the clean path through it.
What happens next was still the question hanging over the court. Wawrinka had the first set in hand and the match was locked at 4-4 in the second, but the result was still open, with a straight continuation of the serve patterns likely to decide whether his final Wimbledon kept moving in his direction or turned into a longer, harder test.
