Stan Wawrinka made news recently when he retired in his first-round match in Marseille. The 32-year-old Swiss player had taken some extended time away from the sport after his campaign in Wimbledon last year ended in the first round because of a nagging knee injury. Sidelined for six months, he returned in action in the Australian Open, only to fall in the second round to the American Tennys Sandgren. His comeback has since been stale. A good semifinal showing in Sofia has since been overshadowed by first-round losses in Rotterdam and now, in Marseille. What comes next?

The Current Situation

Stan Wawrinka left the stadium in Marseille nearly in tears, quite possibly uncertain about his future. In a press conference, Wawrinka said: “At 3-3, I hit a forehand volley that I felt in my knee. It stiffened as if I’d gone back in time. Then bending became a problem. When the knee stiffens, when there’s pressure on the kneecap and it starts hurting, you can’t keep pushing. These are difficult times. It’s a long process, but I have to take a step back from everything that’s happening. I knew it would take a long time.”

This isn’t really surprising. His movement has been off since day one and his game has taken a hit, especially his kick serve. In his pre-tournament press conference in Australia, Wawrinka confirmed that he almost didn’t come to play. A likely motivator might have been the 720 semifinalist points he was defending from last year.

Were there any options?

What he should have done was wait it out for a while longer. While it is easy to see why he felt obligated to return, he now walks hobbled again and uncertain about his immediate future. He is defending 600 points from his run to the final in Indian Wells. I hope his desire to not drop out of the top 20 further aggravates his already weak knee.

What should he do?

Rest. He is defending 610 points from now until the clay court season. Considering that he did poorly in his clay swing right up till Rome last year, he will have little problem in racking up points and climbing the rankings. Clay is his best surface anyway, and a fresh and rejuvenated Stan can do more damage than most of us can imagine.

Until then, here’s hoping for a speedy recovery for Stan the Man.