Wawrinka eases past Murray in veterans finale

Andy Murray went down to a third consecutive defeat to Stan Wawrinka at the French Open and this time it will most likely will be their last appearances in Paris.

Former World No. 1  Murray lost a five-set thriller to his fellow triple Grand Slam champion in the 2017 semi-final here, and then in straight sets in the first round in 2020.

After the match the Swiss winner said “My first words are for a great champion,”

“I have loved watching Andy play, loved fighting against him. We’ve had a lot of fights over the last 15 years. We are not very young so we did all we could and remember all these moments.”

He added: “I love to work in front of a crowd like this. I’ve shared a lot of emotion with this crowd and they gave me a lot of energy to fight.

This was  the pair’s 23rd career meeting.

“In my head I’m still a young guy, still a kid.”

Murray, who was runner-up at Roland Garros in 2016, lost 6-4, 6-4, 6-2 in his last appearance at the tournament before retiring later this year..

Wawrinka became only the third man over the age of 39 to win a match at the French Open since 1980.

37 year old Murray had already announced his retirement plans for after the summer with Wimbledon and the Paris Olympics as the final high-profile tournaments left on his schedule.

He left to a standing ovation from the Philippe Chatrier crowd and Murray returned the gesture by applauding the fans.

The veteran Swiss will face either Cameron Norrie of Britain or Russia’s Pavel Kotov for a  place in the third round.

Main photo:- Stan Wawrinka winning in Paris – by ATPTour.com