Stan Wawrinka receives Shanghai Masters wild card, rewrites history tables again

Stan Wawrinka may be 40 years old, but he just loves tennis, which is why he continues to compete and break records.

Only a couple of weeks ago, Wawrinka was close to becoming the oldest ATP Challenger champion ever. He played the final of the event in Rennes, but lost to Hugo Gaston, failing to break Ivo Karlovic's record.

Despite his loss in the final, the 40-year-old Swiss player has shown great form in recent weeks. After struggling on the main Tour for some time, he turned to the Challenger events again and found great success.

Wawrinka has won 10 of the last 12 matches he played, but his last event ended in a withdrawal. The three-time Grand Slam champion withdrew prior to his semi-final match against Dan Added in Saint Tropez.

That withdrawal was maybe a scare for all Wawrinka's fans, but it was followed by some great news. The former world No. 3 player is one of the five players who received a wild card for the 2025 Shanghai Masters.

The penultimate ATP Masters 1000 event of the season starts on October 1st and runs until the 12th. For Wawrinka, it will be his 12th participation at the event, with his previous best result being a quarter-final. He reached that stage in Shanghai twice, in 2013 and 2015.

Now, he is one of the five players who received a wild card to join the main draw in 2025. Wawrinka even recorded a video for his fans, as he was delighted about being recognized by the tournament organizers. For example, the US Open tournament organizers didn't give him a wild card, even though he is a former champion of the event.

Wawrinka will rewrite the history tables if he appears in the main draw in Shanghai. He will become the third-oldest player to compete at an ATP Masters 1000 tournament. He will surpass Feliciano Lopez by 19 days.

There are still two players who were older when they competed in an ATP Masters 1000 event than Wawrinka will be at the start of the Shanghai Masters. Jimmy Connors was older by four days, and Ivo Karlovic played an ATP Masters 1000 event when he was 42 years and 218 days old. If Wawrinka wants to surpass that record, he will need to continue competing for a couple more years.

Wawrinka is one of the five players who were announced as wild cards for the 2025 Shanghai Masters. He is the only non-Chinese player to be granted a wild card.

The other four players are home hopefuls Juncheng Shang, Yibing Wu, Zhizhen Zhang, and Yi Zhou. Most of them have already proven their talent, but have struggled with injuries, which is why they need a wild card to enter the main draw.