French Open PIX: Andy Murray's hopes crushed

Images from Day 1 of the 2020 French Open in Paris on Sunday

Wawrinka vs Murray: Big match falls flat

What was billed as an opening-day classic between two old warriors turned into a damp squib as Stanislas Wawrinka crushed Andy Murray 6-1, 6-3, 6-2 at the French Open on Sunday.

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,” Murray, whose previous worst loss was a 6-3, 6-2, 6-1 hammering at the hands of Rafael Nadal at the 2014 French Open, told reporters.

“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.

He was soundly beaten by young Canadian Felix Auger Aliassime in the second round of the U.S. Open though and was hit off court by 35-year-old Wawrinka who has also been forced to come back from knee surgery.

Murray landed only 36 per cent of his first serves which was never going to end well against a player with Wawrinka’s bullish groundstrokes.

“That’s just not good enough, really, against anyone, and especially someone as good as Stan,” he said.

The normally vocal Scot barely uttered a word during the match and even his usually sublime touch was off with one dropshot late in the second set failing to reach the net.

While Murray was a shadow of his former self, Wawrinka, who plays 61st-ranked Dominik Koepfer of Germany next, fired a warning that he could be a threat.

It was only his second Tour-level match since the resumption of tennis from the coronavirus shutdown, but he served magnificently and clubbed 42 winners to Murray’s 10.

With the conditions likely to remain heavy, Wawrinka will be confident of an extended run.

“I’ve had some amazing matches with Andy. I was expecting a tough match. But I was really focused. Even if the scoreboard is one-sided like today, you never know what can happen.

“It’s great to be back, great to feel that way, and looking forward for the next match.”

Tough Gauff downs ninth seed Konta in Paris

American teenager Coco Gauff made an impressive return to the Grand Slam stage when she brushed aside last year's semi-finalist Johanna Konta 6-3, 6-3 in her main draw debut at the French Open to advance into the second round on Sunday.

Less than a month after a first-round exit at the US Open, Gauff was all business on a floodlit Court Suzanne Lenglen in front of a dozen spectators in chilly Parisian weather.

The 16-year-old, the youngest player in the main draw whose best result at a Grand Slam was reaching the fourth round at the Australian Open earlier this year, will next face Italian qualifier Martina Trevisan.

Gauff admitted she was nervous before entering the court, but a little chat with her father helped settle the jitters.

"Honestly, my dad told me something in the warmup," she said. "His goal was to become an NBA player, and he didn't make it. He told me, you're living your dream, not everybody gets to do that, just have fun on the court."

"That really changed my perspective. I was really nervous going into the match. That just calmed me down. I realized it's just a tennis match. I'm doing some things that people wish they could do. Just go out there and enjoy it."

Gauff got off to a flying start, breezing through the opening set before dropping serve early in the second, allowing British ninth seed Konta to move 2-0 up.

But the American broke straight back, and again in a nine-minute fifth game to move 3-2 up, following up on serve to lead 4-2.

She served for the match at 5-2 but Konta broke back for 5-3, only for the Briton to collapse in the following game, bowing out on the second match point when she netted a routine shot.