Similarly, Mauresmo said there wouldn’t be that sort of adieu to Murray, who has indicated he might retire after this summer. As it is, he is not done in Paris, because he and Dan Evans received a wild-card entry for doubles.
This was his fourth consecutive appearance at the French Open that included a match against Wawrinka, who is 6-1 head-to-head on clay. Wawrinka won their 2015 semifinal in Paris, Murray won a five-set semifinal the next year, and Wawrinka won their first-round contest in 2020. Murray missed the event in 2021-23.
Both men drew gasps with hard-hit groundstrokes and both tossed in a bit of guile, too, including an early serve-and-volley from Wawrinka and a half-dozen drop shots from Murray in the second set alone.
Wawrinka, who has dealt with his own series of health issues over the years, goes on to meet No. 32 Cam Norrie or Pavel Kotov in the second round.
Other major titles champions who won Sunday included Carlos Alcaraz, Naomi Osaka, Sofia Kenin and Jelena Ostapenko. But 2021 French Open champion Barbora Krejcikova lost 7-6 (3), 6-4 to Viktorija Golubic — making the 24th-seeded Krejcikova 0-3 in Paris since going 7-0 three years ago to take the title.
Alcaraz arrived having missed time because of a forearm problem that made him afraid to hit his big forehands at full strength, but that did not appear to be an issue during a 6-1, 6-2, 6-1 victory over J.J. Wolf, an American who lost in qualifying and got into the field when another player withdrew.
Indeed, Alcaraz pronounced his arm “fully recovered,” although still “feeling weird.”
From Wolf’s vantage point across the net?
“He hit his forehand very well. It felt heavy to me,” Wolf said. “It had plenty on it.”
Osaka picked up her first victory at a Grand Slam tournament in more than two years, steadying herself after wasting a 4-0 lead in the third set to pull out a 6-1, 4-6, 7-5 win over Lucia Bronzetti of Italy.
Amanda Anisimova, an American who reached the 2019 semifinals at Roland Garros as a teenager, defeated Rebecca Šramková 7-6, 6-4. Anisimova had been 1-3 since returning from a groin muscle injury that sidelined her since she reached the Australian Open’s fourth round in January.
“Not having the best start to my Europe swing wasn’t great. But I was going into it trying to really learn what I did wrong in those tournaments and see what I can adjust,” Anisimova said. “I’m just happy with the way I played and I fought.”