Wawrinka Bows Out in Basel, Djokovic Starts Wednesday: Tuesday Results and Turin Race Update

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Quick Answer

Tuesday 27 October was a day of endings and escapes. In Basel, three time Grand Slam winner Stan Wawrinka played the final match of his career, losing 7-5, 7-6 (2) to eighth seed Jiri Lehecka in the first round of the Swiss Indoors, in his native Switzerland. Wawrinka announced in December that 2026 would be his last season, and Basel was his final tournament. He received a tribute from the fans who came to watch their countryman one final time.

In Vienna, Carlos Alcaraz beat Karen Khachanov 6-4, 7-6 (5), and Alexander Zverev survived four match points to beat Spanish wildcard Martin Landaluce 7-5, 3-6, 7-6 (11) in a match that lasted three hours and five minutes, with a third set tiebreaker that lasted more than 21 minutes. On Wednesday, Novak Djokovic starts in Basel against Ugo Humbert, in his first Basel appearance since 2011, with his Turin hopes still alive.

What happened in Wawrinka's final match?

Wawrinka lost the first set 7-5 and the second set tiebreaker 7-2 to Lehecka. The scoreline is simple. The context is not. Wawrinka won three Grand Slam titles, the Australian Open in 2014, Roland Garros in 2015, and the US Open in 2016, and he did it in an era dominated by Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer. He was never the favourite in those finals, and that is why fans loved him. He was the player who could beat anyone on his day, with a one handed backhand that is still talked about as one of the best shots in the sport.

Basel was a fitting place to finish. It is his home tournament, in Switzerland, and it is where he played in front of a crowd that had watched him for two decades. The ATP's own Basel coverage on Wednesday morning led with a celebration of Wawrinka, with the headline "Wawrinka, without regrets: That is the only way you can leave the sport." That is a good summary of a career that was never about longevity for its own sake, but about peaks that few players ever reach.

Wawrinka's farewell also changes Basel itself. The tournament loses its most popular Swiss player, and the crowd on Wednesday will be watching Djokovic, not Wawrinka, for the first time in this event's recent history. That is a handover, not just a result.

How did Alcaraz and Zverev survive in Vienna?

Alcaraz, seeded second in Vienna, beat Khachanov 6-4, 7-6 (5), with a 36-15 edge in winners. It was his seventh win in seven matches against Khachanov, and his second against the Russian this year, after Doha. It also kept alive a remarkable ATP 500 streak: Alcaraz is now 22-0 in ATP 500 level matches since losing the 2025 Barcelona final to Holger Rune. He is 29-4 on hard courts in 2026, including titles at the Australian Open, Doha and Tokyo, and he is playing in Vienna for the first time since 2021.

Alcaraz's next match is on Thursday, against the winner of Wednesday's match between Austrian wildcard Jurij Rodionov, ranked 137th, and Nikoloz Basilashvili of Georgia, ranked 95th, the Almaty finalist. Alcaraz has never played Rodionov, and he has won both previous matches against Basilashvili, the last in Madrid in 2022.

Zverev's win was much harder. The world number two and top seed in Vienna beat Landaluce, a 20 year old wildcard from Madrid playing him for the first time, after saving four match points in the third set tiebreaker. Landaluce saved two match points in the 12th game of the deciding set to force the tiebreaker, then led at 6-5, 8-7, 9-8 and 10-9, only for Zverev to battle back each time. Zverev won 53 of 72 first serve points, 73.6 percent, and recorded his 63rd victory of the season, on his fifth match point opportunity.

Zverev's win matters for more than Vienna. He can become world number one on Monday for the first time in his career if he advances to the quarterfinals in Vienna, because Jannik Sinner has 500 points dropping. Sinner ended his season with a knee injury and will not play the ATP Finals. Zverev needs two wins in Vienna to reach the quarterfinals and take the top spot effective 2 November. He has one. He needs one more.

What else happened on Tuesday?

In Basel, top seed Ben Shelton edged fellow American Aleksandar Kovacevic 6-7 (4), 7-6 (3), 7-6 (4), in a match that lasted two hours and 38 minutes. Shelton was credited with 44 aces and saved all four break points he faced. Second seed Arthur Fils beat Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard 7-6 (5), 7-5. Third seed Rafael Jodar swept Alejandro Tabilo 6-4, 6-2. Other winners included tenth seed Hubert Hurkacz, Swiss wildcard Jerome Kym, and Alex Michelsen.

In Vienna, fourth seed Flavio Cobolli battled past Bulgarian wildcard Grigor Dimitrov 6-4, 3-6, 6-3. Seventh seed Tommy Paul, French qualifier Adrian Mannarino and Great Britain's Cameron Norrie also won their openers. Those results set up a Wednesday and Thursday schedule that is much stronger than a normal first round week, because the top seeds are still alive and the Turin race is still open.

Djokovic on Wednesday: what to expect

Djokovic, seeded fourth in Basel and ranked 12th in the world, plays French left hander Ugo Humbert, ranked 38th, on Wednesday on Center Court at St Jakobshalle. The ATP's official Wednesday order of play lists Center Court starting at 14:00 local time, with Djokovic v Humbert listed as not before 18:00 local time. That is 17:00 London time, 18:00 Berlin and Paris time, 13:00 Eastern Daylight Time in New York and Toronto, 10:00 Pacific Daylight Time in Los Angeles, and 22:00 Pakistan Time. Some secondary listings give earlier times for this match, so the ATP order, not before 18:00 local, is the time to use.

Djokovic leads the head to head 1-0. He won the title in Basel in 2009, beating Roger Federer 6-4, 4-6, 6-2, and he lost the final in 2010 and the semifinal in 2011, to Kei Nishikori. He has not played Basel since 2011. His last match was in Shanghai, where he lost to Hurkacz in the second round on 9 October. His best result of 2026 was winning the title in Beijing, where he beat Alex de Minaur in the final. He has a 19-8 win loss record in 2026, and this will be his first match of the year on indoor hard courts.

Humbert is a dangerous first round opponent, not a routine one. He reached the semifinal in Basel last year before retiring against Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, and he has won eight of his 12 previous matches in Basel, including a win over Taylor Fritz on his way to last year's semifinal. He lost to Corentin Moutet in Lyon on 20 October after three hours and 21 minutes. He is a left hander with a tricky spin serve, and Djokovic, after three weeks without a match, may need time to find rhythm. The prediction in most previews is a Djokovic win in a tough match, not a comfortable one.

Wednesday's Basel schedule also includes Nuno Borges v Casper Ruud, Taylor Fritz v lucky loser Rinky Hijikata in the evening session, and Hubert Hurkacz v Holger Rune in the second round. In Vienna on Wednesday, Rodionov v Basilashvili decides Alcaraz's next opponent, and the second round begins to take shape.

What does this mean for the Turin race?

The ATP Finals in Turin run from 15 to 22 November, and the Paris Masters from 2 to 8 November is the cutoff event. Only Zverev and Alcaraz had secured qualification before this week, per reporting on Monday, with Sinner out for the season. That means effectively ninth place in the Race gets in, because Sinner was qualified and then withdrew.

Djokovic was 11th in the Live Race before Basel, with 102 titles, and he needs a top nine finish to reach Turin. A title in Basel would help enormously, but even a deep run, a semifinal or final, would move him closer. Jodar, who won on Tuesday, was also in the chasing pack, and his win keeps his hopes alive. De Minaur, who beat Machac on Monday after being down 4-2 in the second set, also keeps his Turin hopes alive, and he faces Learner Tien in Vienna.

The honest summary is that Tuesday did not settle the race, it narrowed it. Wawrinka is out, by retirement, not by ranking. Alcaraz and Zverev are through, which keeps their seeding and their number one race alive. Djokovic starts Wednesday, and his result will tell us whether Turin is a realistic target or a final week hope. If he loses to Humbert, his path becomes very narrow. If he wins, and wins again, Basel becomes a genuine launchpad.

Wednesday at a glance

In the United States, Basel is on Tennis Channel, with Center Court coverage and streaming on Fubo. In the UK and Europe, check local ATP Tour broadcast listings, as rights vary by country.

Sources: ATP Tour official Basel schedule, 28 October 2026; Field Level Media ATP roundup, 27 October 2026, carried by Reuters; ATP Tour Vienna reporting on Alcaraz and Zverev, 27 October 2026; Tennishead on Alcaraz head to head records, 28 October 2026.

Internal links: Tennis category hub on ofthepitch.com; Tuesday Tennis in Vienna and Basel: Alcaraz and Zverev Start, Wawrinka Farewell, and Djokovic Is Wednesday; Vienna and Basel Draws Are Out: Alcaraz Gets Khachanov, Djokovic Gets Humbert, and Zverev Needs Two Wins for World No 1