Grand Slam icon issues battle cry as long-awaited injury return confirmed - 'Let's go!

Stan Wawrinka is set to return to tennis action at the end of this week after more than a year away from the sport with his latest injury layoff. The three-time Grand Slam champion has been sorely missed by fans over the past 12 months, and has barely played at all since the Covid-19 pandemic began.

Wawrinka has not played on the ATP Tour since a narrow defeat to Lloyd Harris at an event in Doha last March. After being knocked out of that tournament, he decided to undergo surgery on his left foot and has been in recovery ever since.

It is not the first time the Swiss has suffered from long layoffs - he spent large parts of the 2018 season on the treatment table, including three months out with a knee problem. Despite climbing back up the rankings that year, he has struggled to reach the heights he once did earlier in his career.

Wawrinka has barely played at all since the start of the pandemic two years ago. As the tour went on hiatus, his promising start to the season - the Swiss reached the quarter-finals of the Australian Open with wins over the likes of John Isner and Daniil Medvedev - was halted and he hasn't managed to gain any momentum since.

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His latest long layoff will come to an end this month, after it was confirmed the former world number three has been given a wildcard for the Andalucia Open, which begins in Marbella on March 27. It marks his first appearance on the Challenger Tour since August 2020.

After the news was announced by tournament organisers, Wawrinka took to social media to show his excitement. "Let's gooooo," he wrote on Twitter, before a separate post which showed the Swiss on a private plane heading to Spain ahead