Wawrinka overpowers Murray: 'My best match of the year'

Stan Wawrinka won a highly anticipated showdown with Andy Murray Sunday evening to reach the second round at Roland Garros.

The 2015 champion broke early in each set to defeat the former No. 1 in the PIF ATP Rankings 6-4, 6-4, 6-2. The Swiss will next play 32nd seed Cameron Norrie or Pavel Kotov.

"I think I played my best match of the year. I think I was feeling good. I was moving well. I was playing aggressive," Wawrinka said. "I liked the conditions, and I'm super happy with the performance and the level. It's really positive for me."

It was a familiar matchup for the pair of three-time major titlists. Wawrinka and Murray had previously met three times at Roland Garros and 22 times overall in their Lexus ATP Head2Head series. Wawrinka advanced in two hours and 19 minutes to claim his third consecutive win against the Scot on the Parisian clay and his 10th victory in their rivalry overall (Murray leads 13-10).

The stars shared a special moment at the net after Wawrinka closed out the net, chatting for nearly a minute to show their mutual respect before shaking hands with the chair umpire.

"It was emotional, for sure. We're getting closer to the end, and we played so many times over the past 20 years," Wawrinka said. "A lot of emotion. [It] was amazing to be on the Chatrier night session, something I never had a chance to do. And, yeah, he's [an] amazing guy, amazing player, such a big fighter. We have a lot of respect for each other."

STAN THE MAN 🤩@stanwawrinka takes down Murray in straight sets to advance to R2 in Paris!@rolandgarros | #RolandGarros pic.twitter.com/cRkM6yN6HE

— ATP Tour (@atptour) May 26, 2024

It was an uphill battle throughout for Murray both on the scoreboard and in rallies. Wawrinka earned a service break early in each set to give himself confidence, which made the task even tougher for his opponent, who had not competed in the tournament since 2020, when he also lost in the first round.

After suffering an ankle injury in March in Miami, Murray tested new racquets and happily moved forward with a Yonex frame, which he said was to help provide more power. But that did make enough of a difference on Court Philippe-Chatrier.

Wawrinka’s trademark one-handed backhand proved a dominant shot throughout, especially in the critical moments. Murray was unable to control play often enough to make the former World No. 3 uncomfortable. He failed to convert his two break points, while Wawrinka took advantage of four of his break chances.

A critical moment came when Wawrinka served for the second set and faced a 0/30 deficit. Murray had an opportunity to claim the momentum and come back in the set. Instead, the Swiss held on to take a commanding two-sets-to-none lead.

Early in the third, Murray’s movement appeared compromised and Wawrinka took full advantage. The 39-year-old earned two quick service breaks and surged into the second round.

In one of the last matches of the day, Frenchman Corentin Moutet ousted Rome finalist Nicolas Jarry 6-2, 6-1, 3-6, 6-0 behind seven service breaks.

Moutet advanced to the third round at his home Slam for the third consecutive year. The lefty made just 17 unforced errors compared to 51 for his 16th-seeded opponent according to Infosys Stats.

Did You Know?
This was the second oldest match at Roland Garros this century behind the first-round clash in 2019 between 40-year-old Ivo Karlovic and 37-year-old Feliciano Lopez.