Andy Murray will not say it but Stan Wawrinka may have ended his French Open career in a one-sided first-round encounter at Roland Garros. Murray, 37, lost 6-4 6-4 6-2 to the Swiss former champion and will now switch his focus to playing doubles with Dan Evans, part of his Olympics preparations – if an apparent back issue is not serious. The Brit was broken in the very first game of the match and then three more times across just over two hours, securing his 46th win at Roland Garros, the third most in the Open era.
Murray was playing the French Open for the first time in four years but against the same opponent: on that occasion he won only six games against Wawrinka. It will be scant consolation that this time he managed four more. Read Next French Open cancels Rafael Nadal farewell ceremony At 39 years of age, Wawrinka probably knows every angle there is a tennis court and made sure to utilise each of them in the early stages, manoeuvring Murray around the court to great effect.
He earned three break point chances in the opening game and converted the third with two vintage one-handed backhands. That stroke is a thing of beauty in full flow: somehow more elegant and fluid that its more common, two-handed counterpart. It is a shot of more risk and reward too.
It elicits more power from the strings but with less control. For Wawrinka, that has helped him win three grand slams in an era where a more conservative strategy might have seen him end with none. Murray is a stark .