Andy Murray suffers joint-worst defeat of his CAREER as he crashes out of French Open first round against Stan Wawrinka
ANDY MURRAY crashed out of the French Open with the joint WORST Slam display of his career.
Britain’s greatest tennis star was unusually quiet and uninspired as he lost 6-1 6-3 6-2 to Stan Wawrinka on a cold evening in Paris.
It was the first time he had been beaten in the first round at Roland Garros since debut appearance in 2006 and the number of games won (six) were the fewest at major level since a defeat to Rafa Nadal six years ago.
This first-round match at Roland Garros was the first time in eight years two Slam champions had met in the Last 128 of a major.
It brought back memories of their last encounter here three years ago, a bruising, brutal encounter in the semi-finals. A loss that had huge ramifications for the rest of Murray’s career.
It was during that tournament he severely aggravated and ultimately damaged his hip, sending him on a two-year spiral, consisting of tears, dark days, aborted comebacks, two surgeries and a metal hip implant.
For a man who grew up in Dunblane in Scotland, you would have thought Murray would have been used to the cold weather.
Yet he arrived on the Court Phillipe Chatrier wearing thick black leggings due to the autumnal weather that will become a significant factor of this rescheduled clay-court Slam. This is certainly not springtime in Paris.
Yet he had clearly forgotten his watch for this comeback match as he received a time violation for taking his time at the start.
Murray won that opening service game but then lost the next SIX games in a row to lose the first set within 33 minutes.
This was a chastening experience against a player who had had his own injury hell in recent years.
Wawrinka broke in the fifth game of the second set and managed to take a 2-0 lead with minimum fuss.
From Murray’s perspective, he was too quiet. There were no shouts of encouragement, no fist pumping, no screaming. Nothing. Just silence on court.
It was unusual from a player who often spends matches moaning and complaining to his box in an attempt to fire himself up.
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Murray was on the back foot for most of the time, the drop shot was not an option that was working, and he lost the third set after an hour and 37 minutes.
Three-time major winner Wawrinka, 35, will now face German Dominik Koepfer in the second round.
