What was billed as an opening-day classic between two old warriors turned into a damp squib as Stan Wawrinka crushed Andy Murray 6-1 6-3 6-2 at the French Open on Monday (NZ time).
The last time they met on Court Philippe Chatrier, in the 2017 semi-final, Wawrinka came through a five-set slugfest but this time it proved a painfully one-sided affair as Murray suffered his equal worst Grand Slam beating.
When the opening three games on a near-empty showcourt took around 20 minutes, another battle royal looked possible between the players who both own three Grand Slam titles.
But as 16th seed Wawrinka, champion in Paris in 2015, raised his game, Murray, who wore black leggings on a chilly evening, capitulated alarmingly with his trademark battling qualities conspicuous by their absence.
"I need to have a long hard think about it. It's not the sort of match I would just brush aside and not think about it," says Murray, whose previous worst loss was a 6-3 6-2 6-1 hammering at the hands of Rafa Nadal at the 2014 French Open.
"I need to understand why the performance was like that."
Murray's defeat by Wawrinka in 2017 after an epic four and a half hour tussle proved almost the final straw for a crumbling hip that has since required two surgeries, the second of which has left him with a metal joint.
But the 33-year-old returned to singles action last year and actually beat Wawrinka to win the Antwerp title in October - a result that raised hopes he could again challenge at the top.
Meanwhile, US Open runner-up Alexander Zverev overcame a slow start to launch his French Open challenge with a 7-5 6-2 6-4 victory over Austrian Dennis Novak
Zverev, who had not played on clay since last year, trailed 4-1 in the opening set before he turned the screw on Court Philippe Chatrier, whose roof remained open despite a light drizzle.
"I didn't play any claycourt before this, it's my first one [this year] and it was not easy. It was rainy and cold, I needed to get used to it, said the 23-year-old Zverev.
Earlier, Japan's Kei Nishikori surrendered two sets 6-1 but still managed to battle past Britain's Dan Evans and into the second round of the French Open.
The 30-year-old, playing only his fifth match of the season after a recovery from elbow surgery sidelined him early in the year and then a positive COVID-19 test ruled him out of the U.S. Open, won 1-6 6-1 7-6(3) 1-6 6-4.
Reuters
