French Open R1 previews and predictions: Wawrinka vs. Murray, Evans vs. Nishikori

The marquee matchup of the entire French Open first round will take place on Sunday, when Stan Wawrinka goes up against Andy Murray. Kei Nishikori and Dan Evans are also part of the Day 1 action.

(16) Stan Wawrinka vs. (WC) Andy Murray

Murray is back at the French Open for the first time since 2017, when he played his last match at the tournament against none other than Wawrinka. In a semifinal thriller, Wawrinka prevailed 6-7(6), 6-3, 5-7, 7-6(3), 6-1 after four hours and 34 minutes. Due to respective physical problems, neither veteran has ever been the same since. Murray, of course, has had to battle admirably just to remain on tour. The 33-year-old Brit played his first Grand Slam match since the 2019 Australian Open at the recent U.S. Open, where he came back from two sets to love down to defeat Yoshihito Nishioka before getting destroyed by Felix Auger-Aliassime.

Wawrinka is still ranked a solid 17th in the world thanks in part to quarterfinal performances at last year’s French Open and this year’s Aussie Open. The 35-year-old Swiss played a couple of clay-court Challengers (won one) instead of going over to the United States for Cincinnati and the U.S. Open, which at least prepared him somewhat well for this particular major. Although Wawrinka trails the head-to-head series 12-8, he has a considerable edge this time around in terms of current form, the surface, and physicality in a best-of-five situation.

Pick: Wawrinka in 4

(32) Dan Evans vs. Kei Nishikori

Like Murray and to a lesser extent Wawrinka, Nishikori is also a question mark in terms of his ability to withstand the rigors of a slam from a physical standpoint. The world No. 35 from Japan has played in only two events this season–Kitzbuhel and Rome earlier this month–due to an elbow injury. He lost right away at the former and beat Albert Ramos-Vinolas at the latter only to lose during second-round action to Italian qualifier Lorenzo Musetti.

Up first for Nishikori on Sunday is a fourth career contest against Evans, who trails the head-to-head series 2-1. They have not faced each other since the 2017 Indian Wells Masters and have never squared off on clay. This is without question Evans’ worst surface, but in general he has been in great form over the past year and finds himself at 34th in the rankings. The 30-year-old Brit is at least a good enough all-court player to make this one close, and as long as he can can keep Nishikori on the court for an extended period of time he will have a clear advantage late.

Pick: Evans in 5