Andy Murray suffers first-round exit to Stan Wawrinka at French Open

PARIS — Andy Murray suffered a first-round exit at the French Open as he fell to an inspired Stan Wawrinka in straight sets on Sunday night.

The two have three Grand Slams apiece, but in this battle of the veterans with a combined age of 76, it was Wawrinka who came out on top, winning 6-4, 6-4, 6-2 in 2 hours, 19 minutes.

“Disappointed, it was always going to be tough, a tough match,” Murray said. “Stan has played brilliant tennis on that court and I was expecting him to play very well tonight and he gave me few opportunities. I wish I could’ve done a bit better — disappointed, but I didn’t have extremely high expectations given the way the preparation went coming into it.

“Physically, tennis is not easy for me these days. It’s hard, and clay has been a surface since the beginning of my career, I’ve had back issues on the clay, and it’s something I’m used to.”

It was a tennis match more resembling a heavyweight fight as the two exchanged powerful groundstrokes with the odd drop shot breaking things up as the duo defied age to keep a packed crowd enthralled. But it was Wawrinka, 39, who prevailed, booking his spot in the second round.

Wawrinka was largely in charge of the proceedings, his backhand on point as he moved Murray around Court Philippe-Chatrier. He received the majority of backing from the French crowd, a favourite in these parts after he won the tournament in 2015.

Wawrinka said afterward of Murray: “It was emotional for sure; we’re getting closer to the end. We played so many times in the last 20 years. He’s an amazing guy. Amazing player and such a big fighter. We have a lot of respect for each other.

“I think I played my best match of the year. I was playing aggressive, and I’m super happy with the performance.”

For Murray, 37, this was always a free hit. This was just his second visit to Roland Garros in singles in the past seven years — his best return here in Paris here was reaching the 2016 final, where he lost to Novak Djokovic. But eight years on, it was Wawrinka — who won the title here in 2015 — who stopped him in his tracks in the opening round.

This is widely expected to be…