Stan Wawrinka withdraws from Rome

Stan Wawrinka’s Rome run ended before it really began. The 41-year-old Swiss pulled out of his final qualifying match against Pablo Carreño Busta on Tuesday, May 5, just minutes before they were due on court. That gave Carreño Busta a walkover into the main draw. The bigger sting is obvious — this was probably Wawrinka’s last appearance at the Italian Open, and fans never got the match. ### What happened in Rome? Wawrinka was scheduled to play Carreño Busta in the last round of qualifying at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia, the ATP Masters 1000 event in Rome. Instead, he withdrew shortly before the start time, so the match never began and Carreño Busta advanced automatically. Rome’s official live scores listed Carreño Busta through qualifying, while multiple tennis outlets pinned the withdrawal to the final minutes before the match. ### Why was he even in qualifying? Because Wawrinka no longer has the ranking cushion he used to. Rome is a Masters 1000 event, and getting into the main draw directly now is much harder for him than it was in his peak years. He had to start in qualifying, which is already telling — this is a former world No. 3 and three-time Slam champion fighting for a spot just to reach the tournament proper. ### Had he played well before withdrawing? Actually, yes. On Monday, May 4, he came through a long, physical first qualifying match against Stefano Travaglia, winning 4-6, 7-6(5), 7-6(1). That result put him one win from the main draw. But it also looked costly. The match went deep, and the reporting around Tuesday’s withdrawal pointed to back pain after that effort. ### Why does the back issue matter so much? Because this does not look like a random one-off. Wawrinka is already in the closing stretch of his career, and when