ROLAND-GARROS
19 May - 8 June 2025
They have played 22 times before (Murray leads their rivalry 13-9), they have played two finals (Murray won them both) and their careers seem tied together. In the era of The Big Three – Messrs Federer, Djokovic and Nadal – only these two have managed to break into the closed shop and win three Grand Slam titles apiece. And now both are approaching the end.
Day 1 - Under the lights: The last dance?
Andy Murray and Stan Wawrinka have been going toe-to-toe for half a lifetime but this is likely to be their last showdown at Roland-Garros
Murray said earlier this year that he will probably not play past this summer. Wawrinka, two years older than the Scot at 39, has said that he wants to play on as long as he can, but he has had his doubts. He has won just three matches all year and when he lost to Albert Ramos-Vinolas for the first time in 10 meetings last month, he wondered if it was all worth it.
“I had had a series of bad defeats,” he said. “It stopped me wanting to push myself. But I never forgot when I was a kid why I wanted to play tennis. It is the passion for the sport. It's not because I get older that I don't have the same happiness when I come here. So as long as I can keep pushing a bit, as long as I feel competitive to play at a good level, that I feel I'm happy with it, I want to push myself.”
©️Cèdric Lecocq / FFTFor all that their career paths seem linked, Wawrinka does not compare himself to Murray. They both made their big move in 2008: Wawrinka broke into the top 10 and Murray reached his first Grand Slam final. But, as the Swiss put it, they are not “in the same category”.
“He's been fighting with the big three for more than 10 years, 15 years,” he went on. “I remember when I was 15, 20 in the world he was always top five, top three, playing every semi-final or final when he had the chance. He's far away from myself, from my career. He's ahead of it.”
©️Corinne Dubreuil / FFTWhen they played here in 2017, Wawrinka won in five long sets. The effort of that match was the final straw for Murray’s right hip and 18 months later, he underwent a resurfacing procedure on the joint. Wawrinka, too, was never the same again as his left knee needed surgery by the middle of that summer.
And here they are again, the two three-time Grand Slam champions trying to rekindle the last embers of their careers. Together. You could say they are joined at the hip.