NEW YORK -- Stan Wawrinka thanked New York and the US Open on Tuesday, after the past champion didn't get into the tournament in his final season before retiring.
Wawrinka was the 2016 US Open champion, one of his three major titles. The 41-year-old from Switzerland is no longer ranked high enough to qualify directly for the tournament, and the U.S. Tennis Association didn't give him a wild card into the event.
"Thank you, New York Thank you, (at) US Open," Wawrinka wrote in a social media post along with emojis of the Statue of Liberty and a tennis racket. "Thank you to every single fan who supported me, pushed me, believed in me and shared all these emotions with me over the years. Forever grateful. Forever New York."
Wawrinka became one of the most accomplished players of his era, at a time when Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray were dominating tennis. He beat Nadal in the 2014 Australian Open final and Djokovic the following year to win the French Open.