Stan Wawrinka will make a farewell appearance at the US Open – despite initially not being given a wildcard for the final Grand Slam of his career.

The Swiss 41-year-old will retire at the end of year but appeared to have been denied a final opportunity to play in New York, where he triumphed in 2016.

The United States Tennis Association had received some criticism for not awarding a wildcard to Wawrinka, who did not enter qualifying.

However, after American wildcard recipient Patrick Kypson withdrew with injury on Wednesday, Wawrinka was offered a place in the main draw.

“I’m incredibly excited to accept the wildcard for the 2026 US Open and look forward to competing in front of the fans in New York once again,” Wawrinka said.

It comes a day after the three-time major winner posted a heartfelt message to the tournament on social media, describing his US Open triumph as “forever one of the greatest moments of my life”.

Wawrinka was given a wildcard for this year’s Australian Open and Wimbledon, while he reached the French Open main-draw on ranking.

He reached the third round in Melbourne and lost a pair of entertaining first-round matches in Paris and Wimbledon respectively.

“When I first arrived in New York from a small farming village in Switzerland, everything felt too big. The city. The noise. The energy. The crowds. The lights,” Wawrinka wrote on Tuesday.

“But, year after year, New York slowly became one of my favourite places in the world.

“This city challenged me. It pushed me. It brought something out of me that few places ever could.

“I experienced some of the strongest emotions of my career here. The battles, the late nights, the incredible atmosphere, the love from the crowd… memories that will stay with me forever.

“Winning the US Open, in the city that never sleeps, will forever be one of the greatest moments of my life.”

Wawrinka was one of the few men’s players to win major singles trophies during the ‘Big Three’ era of Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer.

The former world number three’s US Open win came after victories at the 2014 Australian Open and 2015 French Open.

This will be his 18th appearance in New York since his main draw debut in 2005.

Wildcards are given to players who did not qualify automatically for the tournament by ranking. Wawrinka has fallen outside the top 100 after struggling with injuries and form in recent years.

Switzerland also does not host a Grand Slam, with tournaments reserving reciprocal wildcards for one another. Reciprocal wildcards are assigned by the national federations and not the US Open.

France’s Gael Monfils, who is also retiring this season, was given a wildcard through the French Tennis Federation, which organises the French Open.

The US Open gets under way on Sunday, 30 August at Flushing Meadows.

Other than the reciprocal wildcards the USTA reserves for French and Australian players, the other six wildcards for both the men’s and women’s singles initially went to Americans.

The USTA organises and bankrolls the US Open, and would argue it has every right to put its own players first.

But the sport as a whole would have suffered if a charismatic champion like Wawrinka had not been given the chance to say a proper farewell to the event he won in 2016.

Home players dominate the list of wildcards at all the Grand Slams, but the Australian Open found space for Wawrinka and Venus Williams, while Wimbledon offered wildcards to Wawrinka, Grigor Dimitrov, Serena Williams and French Open runner-up Maja Chwalinska.