Wawrinka too strong for Murray in battle of the tour veterans
Stan Wawrinka beat Andy Murray 6-4, 6-4, 6-2. He’ll face the winner of the match between Cameron Norrie and Pavel Kotov in the next round
Stan Wawrinka, 2024 Baptiste Autissier / Panoramic
Stan Wawrinka had too much power and quality for Andy Murray in their Roland-Garros first-round encounter, beating his long-time rival 6-4, 6-4, 6-2 inside Court Philippe-Chatrier on what is most likely the Scot’s final appearance at the tournament.
If this is to be Murray’s last match at Roland-Garros, then it feels entirely appropriate that a final defeat here should come at the hands of the great Swiss.
Murray has played Wawrinka in each of his last three appearances on the clay courts of Paris, losing their last encounter in 2020 after having also fallen to the 2015 champion seven years ago.
That match in 2017 would go down as one of the most significant in Murray’s storied career for all the wrong reasons. It was losing that five-set epic that triggered the rapid decline of the Scot’s hip – an injury that changed the course of his entire career and ultimately proved too much to ever fully come back from.
In one of those strange twists of tennis fate, the once-titanic pair faced off for what is most probably their final time at Roland-Garros in a first-round match on opening Sunday.
Testament to just what stalwarts these players are, this match-up was the second oldest on the Parisian clay this century.
wawrinka too strong for murray in match that failed to live up to the size of the occasion
The contest itself was an oddly subdued affair. Despite some flashes of brilliance from both men, it soon became clear that this would not be a nostalgia trip revisiting one of their epic encounters of old.
In short, Wawrinka was just too strong for Murray, with the Swiss’ trademark blistering one-handed backhand – still one of the most breathtaking shots in tennis – frequently puncturing holes in Murray’s formerly iron-clad defence.
A single break in the opening game of the match was enough for Wawrinka to take the first set as there was very little else to separate the two players in that opening stanza.
The Scot did very little wrong, putting in arguably one of his better performances of the year across the course of the first set. Despite applying pressure to the Wawrinka serve, however, he was unable to find the breakthrough needed to gain parity as his opponent served out for a one-set lead.
Wawrinka broke again in the third game of the second set, serving impeccably for the remainder as he moved into a two-set lead.
By this point, there was an air of inevitability about the match as the former champion broke twice more at the start of the third and final set, continuing the theme of breaking early in each stanza, as he sealed his deserved passage into the second round.
wawrinka marches on, murray waves farewell for likely the final time
“My first words to him were ‘respect to a great champion,'” Wawrinka said in his on-court interview.
“As a tennis fan I enjoyed watching Andy against the best players of all time. We had battles with the best players for nearly 20 years and we’re not all that young anymore. But we’re trying to make the best of what we have left.
“As years go by you have to be disciplined and make sacrifices. The reason we do that is to be here in front of the public with the great support we get because it creates a lot of emotions for everyone.
“I get a lot of emotions out of this as well. It also gives me the courage to continue. I’m the oldest in the draw, but I’m very young in my head. I just want to carry on playing. It’s as simple as that.”
Wawrinka went on to say in his post-match press conference that he believes he played his “best match of the year” against Murray.
Of his performance, Murray said he was, “obviously disappointed”.
“You know, it was always going to be tough, tough match,” the Scot continued. “You know, Stan has, over the years, played brilliant tennis on that court. Yeah, I was expecting him to play very well tonight. I think he did that. He gave me very few opportunities.
“I wish I could have done a little bit better. But yeah, disappointed but, you know, I didn’t have extremely high expectations with the way, you know, the preparation had been coming in. But obviously would have liked to have done better tonight.”
Murray bows out of Roland-Garros for perhaps the final time as one of the great players to grace these famous clay courts. Despite British players historically struggling at this tournament and on this surface, the three-time Grand Slam champion was a finalist in Paris in 2016, as well as making the semi-finals on four other occasions.
Wawrinka, meanwhile, remains competitive in the French capital. His 2015 title run has forever written him into French Open folklore, but there is still more to come from the Swiss player yet.
He will face either Cameron Norrie or Pavel Kotov in the next round as he continues on his search for a second Roland-Garros trophy.
