Murray misery in Bordeaux

ANDY MURRAY slumped to a 6-3, 6-0 defeat against Stan Wawrinka in the second round of the ATP Challenger Tour event in Bordeaux. The Scot, who turned 36 on Monday, was seeded second and received a first-round bye, yet found himself in a stacked bottom half in the draw including fellow three-time Grand Slam champion Wawrinka. The veteran Swiss, who won the 2015 French Open, forced a break in the fourth game before holding to lead 4-1. Although Murray (right) saved several set points on his next serve, Wawrinka closed out the set. Murray’s serve faltered again at the start of the second set, Wawrinka twice breaking to lead 3-0. The 38-year-old broke Murray again in the fifth game.

Although the Scot forced a break-point chance of his own in the next, he was frustrated by a line call as Wawrinka recovered to serve out for the match and seal victory in one hour, 17 minutes. Murray — who has only played at the French Open once since 2017 — is expected to decide soon whether to compete on clay in Paris, potentially for the last time, or begin his preparations early for the grass-court season ahead of Wimbledon. He was also knocked out in the Italian Open first round by Fabio Fognini last weekend, but captured his first title since 2019 earlier this month when he won a second-tier tournament in Aix-en-Provence. Meanwhile, 20-year-old Dane Holger Rune beat world No 1 Novak Djokovic 6-2, 4-6, 6-2 to reach the semi-finals in Rome. ‘It’s really a big win for me,’ said Rune. ‘Obviously, I did it last year in Paris as well, but every match is a huge challenge for me when I play Novak.’ Djokovic now turns his attention towards the French Open, saying: ‘I know I can always play better. ‘I am looking forward to working on various aspects of my game, of my body, hopefully getting myself in 100-per-cent shape, that is the goal. ‘I always like my chances in Grand Slams against anybody on any surface, best of five, so let’s see how it goes.’ Reflecting on his defeat to Rune, the Serb said: ‘He was just better. He played too good for me.’