Andy Murray knocked out of French Open by Stan Wawrinka
Written by News on 11/06/2017
Stan Wawrinka has ended Andy Murray’s hopes of taking the French Open title for the first time after a thrilling five-set victory in Paris.
The Swiss third seed fought back from two sets to one down in a high-quality contest with a spellbinding performance.
His fifth set victory sealed a 6-7 6-3 5-7 7-6 6-1 triumph and a date with either Dominic Thiem or Rafael Nadal in Sunday’s final.
A succession of Wawrinka winners left the world No.1 helpless in the final set as the 32-year-old fittingly brought an end to more than four-and-a-half hours of sensational tennis in the Paris sunshine with a brilliant backhand winner to reach his fourth career Grand Slam final.
While Murray, runner-up at Roland Garros last year, will be pleased with his run to the last four, it is the Swiss player who advances to a second final in the French capital having beaten Novak Djokovic in 2015.
Wawrinka also becomes the oldest man since Niki Pilic in 1973 to reach the French Open showpiece.
Having reached the last four without dropping a set, Wawrinka lost two to Murray who showed battling qualities of his own to come from a break down in both the first and third sets – but the fifth proved a bridge too far for the 30-year-old, who will take heart from his return to form and fitness.
Murray’s number one ranking remains secure going into the grass court season as No 2 Djokovic is more than 2,000 points behind and was knocked out in an earlier round.
(c) Sky News 2017: Andy Murray knocked out of French Open by Stan Wawrinka
