“I have always been a big fan with many big moments during our career, and it's going to be of course sad to see her leaving after US Open” - Stan Wawrinka on Serena Williams' imminent retirement

Stan Wawrinka praised Serena Williams and said that he’ll miss the American tennis legend once she retires from the sport. The 23-time Major winner Williams recently announced her plans to call time on her professional career at the end of the year’s final Grand Slam in New York.

Wawrinka and Williams shared Grand Slam success at the 2015 French Open. The former won the men’s singles title by beating Novak Djokovic in the final while the latter took the women’s singles crown by defeating Lucie Safarova in the title clash.

The 37-year-old Swiss player touched upon the topic of the American’s retirement in his post-match press conference following his opening-round defeat to Andy Murray at the 2022 Cincinnati Open.

“Yeah, of course [I’ll miss Serena Williams], like everybody. I think she's been amazing for the tennis, for the fans, for everybody who's involved a little bit in sports in general,” he said, adding, “I have always been a big fan with many big moments during our career, and it's going to be of course sad to see her leaving after US Open.”

Wawrinka and Williams paired up for a mixed doubles match at an exhibition event at Madison Square Garden in 2016, where they beat Gael Monfils and Caroline Wozniacki.

While he refused to pick a favorite moment from Williams’ career, he did reveal that they celebrated their 2015 French Open triumph together.

“I think 2015 we celebrated the French Open together, and she crashed my party after the win. It was quite fun,” Wawrinka said, with a smile.

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Serena Williams takes on US Open champion Emma Raducanu in 2022 Cincinnati Open 1R

Serena Williams opens her Cincinnati Open campaign against Emma Raducanu

Serena Williams is set to face Emma Raducanu in the first round of the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati on Tuesday.

Williams, who has won the Cincinnati Open twice, and British No. 1 Raducanu will face each other for the first time. The winner of the match will take on either Victoria Azarenka, who is also a two-time champion, or Kaia Kanepi in the next round.

Neither player has had the best of seasons so far. The 40-year-old American won her first singles match of the year at the Canadian Open, beating Nuria Parrizas-Diaz 6-3, 6-4. She exited the tournament in the next round with a straight-sets defeat to 12th seed Belinda Bencic.

Raducanu, on the other hand, has endured a pretty disappointing season so far, winning only 11 out of 25 matches. She was eliminated in the first round of the Canadian Open after losing 7-6(0), 6-2 to defending champion Camila Giorgi. The quarterfinal finishes at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart and the Citi Open remain the Brit’s best performances this season.