Stan Wawrinka lost in the first round of the ATP 500 in Basel to Jiri Lehecka, world number 21, after 1h55. It was his last match. He is 41. In his final press conference, he said: “Of course there are tears, and tomorrow (Wednesday) it will be a hangover, but not necessarily because of the alcohol, more because of the sadness.”
Silly question, but can you have a hangover without drinking anything? I always thought it was a consequence, not a forecast. He announces it the day before, like the weather. Wednesday: overcast, sadness.
I checked, and actually nobody knows. Well, I didn’t know. So I tested it. Tuesday evening, in my kot (student room) in Louvain-la-Neuve, I watched the highlights of his farewell, with tap water in a glass. Wednesday, the 7.32 train. I observed myself. Slightly heavy eyes, but that’s often the case on that line. Nothing like a real hangover. Maybe you have to play until 41 for it to work.
He also said: “The book has to be closed at some point, but when you’re an athlete, you know it will happen one day.” That, I understand better. My internship has an end date too. I don’t think I’ll get a hangover. I might get a farewell drink at the coffee machine.
I invented the sadness hangover in Kitzbühel in ’92. I never got the credit.
What strikes me is that he said he was “a bit disoriented” but “very happy”. Both at once. Nobody in the newsroom found that odd. I found it perfectly normal, and maybe that’s tennis.
Anyway, I still have a lot to learn.
It’s true, we checked: We Love Tennis.
