The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee)
Murray will face old foe Wawrinka in French Open first round.
Scot to open up against ex-roland Garros champion Wawrinka in Paris
Andy Murray was drawn to face Stan Wawrinka on his return to the French Open in a remarkable twist of fate.
Murray is back at Roland Garros for the first time since he faced Wawrinka in a five-set semi-final in 2017 that proved the beginning of the end for his troublesome right hip.
Three operations and more than three years later, Murray, who was given a wild card, now finds himself up against the powerful Swiss in the first round.
The pair practised together on Court Philippe Chatrier this week, bringing back memories of the gruelling match that also proved costly physically for 2015 champion Wawrinka, who went on to have knee surgery.
It was a headline-grabbing draw for the British players, with British women’s No 1 Johanna Konta paired against teenage sensation Coco Gauff.
Sixteen-year-old Gauff is making her main draw debut at Roland Garros having burst into the spotlight at Wimbledon last summer with her run to the fourth round.
Konta is seeded ninth and will be looking for another strong performance after reaching the semi-finals last year.
British men’ s no 1 dan evans is looking for his first win at Roland Garros and, as the 32nd seed, would have hoped for an easier draw than former top-10 stalwart Kei Nishikori, who is working his way back from injury.
Cameron Norrie will face a qualifier – potentially fellow British player Liam Broady – and Heather Watson takes on Italy’s Fiona Ferro.
Kyle Edmund, though, has withdrawn from the tournament through injury.
Men’s top seed Novak Djokovic takes on Swede Mikael Ymer while Rafael Nadal, who is bidding for a 13th title in Paris, faces Belarusian Egor Gerasimov and finds himself in the same half of the draw as US Open champion Dominic Thiem, who opens against Marin Cilic.
That means there will be no repeat of the final of the last two years, where Nadal has defeated Thiem.
In the women’s draw, top seedand title favourite Simona Halep takes on Sara Sorribes Tormo of Spain and Serena Williams opens against fellow American
Kristie Ahn, who she also played in the first round of the US Open.
Bro a dy thanked murray after breaking new ground after qualifying for Roland Garros.
Murray was among the few people in the stands for the match at Roland Garros and provided vocal backing for British No 6 Broady as he defeated Marc Polmans 7-6 (5) 6-4 in the third round of qualifying.
It is the first time Broady has successfully made it through qualifying at a slam and he will play in the main draw of one of the four major tournaments for the first time outside Wimbledon.
Bro a dy said :“is tar ted the match pretty
bad and then andy showed up and i think it definitely did help a lot because he is a very loud supporter and for anyone, when Andy Murray’s watching, it can be a bit disconcerting.”
Harriet dart will not be joining bro a dy, though, after losing 7-5 6-2 to Romania’s Ir in aba rain the second qualifying round.
Meanwhile, tournament director Guy Forget said organisers are still hoping to have 5,000 fans a day through the gates at Roland Garros.
The french health minister announced new restrictions on Wednesday limiting attendances at sporting events to 1,000 in several areas, including Paris, because of a rise in coronavirus cases.