Victory in the 1st round of Paris – 4:35 hours fight: Wawrinka ends Grand Slam dry spell

• Stan Wawrinka wins his first game in a major tournament in over 2 years. He beats Albert Ramos-Vinolas (ESP) in Paris 7: 6 (7: 5), 6: 4, 6: 7 (2: 7), 1: 6, 6: 4.
• The game lasts 4:35 hours and is up and down. Despite a 2-0 set lead, Wawrinka has to go into a 5th round, which he wins.
• In the second round, the Romand meets the Australian Thanasi Kokkinakis, against whom he has never played.

Stan Wawrinka (ATP 89) also had the upper hand in the 8th encounter with Albert Ramos-Vinolas (ATP 67). At the French Open against his “favorite opponent”, the Swiss once again showed his great fighting heart and deservedly reached the second round. Since the Australian Open 2021, Wawrinka had not survived the starting round at Grand Slams. In the 5th attempt since his 2nd comeback after a long-term injury, it worked again.

But the course to get ahead was remarkable. At the end of the 4:35 hour long battle of attrition, the Spaniard had won eight rallies more than Wawrinka (192:184).

In the 3rd sentence the thread breaks

After the 3:1 lead in the 3rd set, Wawrinka looked like the safe and confident winner. But then the thread broke: Despite a total of 4 chances for a double break, the 38-year-old veteran had to let his opponent come back. Ramos-Vinolas equalized to 4: 4 and forced a 4th set in the tie-break.

Disappointed with the loss, nothing worked for Wawrinka: In just 24 minutes it was 1:6. With 16 unforced errors, the 2015 French Open winner Ramos-Vinolas continued to build.

But the story of the day was not yet written: Wawrinka caught himself in the decisive sentence. The Spaniard was also plagued by physical complaints at the end. After another trembling phase and driven by the enthusiastic audience on Court 14, Wawrinka finally used the 3rd match point.

This is how it goes

In the second round, Wawrinka faces Thanasi Kokkinakis. The Lausanne native has never played against the 27-year-old Australian, who eliminated Dan Evans in three sets in the opening round.