As draws and preparations go it’s not an understatement to say that neither have been ideal for Andy Murray.
The Briton has endured a fairly poor 2024, blighted by injury and defeats. He comes into what many are assuming will be his last French Open on the back of a chastening straight-sets loss to world No 85 Yannick Hanfmann in the Geneva Open and with his ankle injury still fresh in his memory. A week before that defeat he lost early on at the Bordeaux Challenger with the only thing worse than the poor results being his laborious movement.
While it’s clear that for both their best days are well behind them it is still strange to see a first-round match between Murray and Stan Wawrinka. Between them they have won six grand slams and proved themselves to be all-time greats, which during the era of the Big Three is no mean feat.
If there’s any crumb of comfort for Murray it is that Wawrinka hasn’t beaten a top-50 player on the tour since September’s US Open. But other than that the outlook isn’t great for the super Scot.
As our very own Simon Briggs writes…
“One suspects that [Wawrinka] may be a little more sprightly around the court, if only because of the ankle injury that interrupted Murray’s season in late March.
“The whole thing has the flavour of a stock-car demolition derby between two ancient and bashed-up vehicles. As with Nadal, we probably won’t see either of them back at Roland Garros next year.”
But a Murray vs Wawrinka match is always one to get the juices following and victory for either might just be the tonic they need to propel them deep into a grand slam in what may well be their final year on tour.
Stay here to find out whether that will be Murray or Wawrinka.