Past French Open champ Wawrinka out

PARIS Like Novak Djokovic, Stan Wawrinka is a past French Open champion still working his way back into form after surgery.

Like Djokovic, Wawrinka is ranked lower than he has been in more than a decade. And like Djokovic, Wawrinka recently reunited with a coach who helped guide him to success earlier in his career.

Both men were in first-round action at Roland Garros on Monday, but unlike Djokovic, who won in straight sets, Wawrinka could not summon and sustain the sort of high-level play that has carried him to major titles in Paris and elsewhere.

Returning to a place where he won the title in 2015 and made it to the final a year ago, Wawrinka bowed out with a 6-2, 3-6, 4-6, 7-6 (5), 6-3 loss to Guillermo Garcia-Lopez of Spain.

“I won three Grand Slams in my career, and I know what it takes to do it,” said Wawrinka, who was seeded 23rd and is ranked 30th, territory unfamiliar to him since April 2008.

Djokovic — a former No. 1 now ranked 22nd, his worst spot since 2006 — beat 134th-ranked qualifier Rogerio Dutra Silva of Brazil 6-3, 6-4, 6-4, quickly recovering after dropping the opening two games.

“I had to dig deep,” Djokovic said, discussing the work it took to try to rebuild his game. “It has been difficult to face ... the most, say, challenging injury that I have ever had.”

No. 1 seed Rafael Nadal was leading 129th-ranked Simone Bolelli of Italy, 6-4, 6-3, 0-3 in the third set when action was halted for the night due to rain.

Today sees the most anticipated match of the tournament: 23-time major champion Serena Williams, in her first Grand Slam match since January 2017, against Kristyna Pliskova of the Czech Republic.