French Open: Mischa Zverev describes Andy Murray and Stan Wawrinka as 'legends' ahead of Roland-Garros first-round tie

ByThe Editorial Team

Published 26/05/2024 at 10:26 GMT

Former tennis player Mischa Zverev told Eurosport that his highlight of Day 1 of the 2024 French Open at Roland-Garros is the evening tie between two "legends," Andy Murray and Stan Wawrinka. Both veterans have three Grand Slams to their name, and both are potentially facing up to retirement in the coming months, while Zverev pointed to a new racquet for Murray as an intriguing development.

Mischa Zverev is excited to see Andy Murray and Stan Wawrinka - “both legends” - play on Day 1 of the French Open at Roland-Garros on Sunday evening.

Murray and Wawrinka are both potentially in their final seasons as professional tennis players, with many speculating that 37-year-old Murray will step back from the sport after an appearance at Wimbledon in front of his home crowd.

Wawrinka is two years older than the Scotsman and has similarly struggled with injury. While Murray became world No. 1 in men’s tennis and the Swiss veteran’s highest ranking was No. 3, there are some similarities.

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Both have had difficult years as they have battled their bodies in their thirties, and both have three Grand Slams to their name.

They will play on Philippe-Chatrier as the last match on the court for the opening day’s play, and speaking to Eurosport, Zverev reflected on their standing in the sport.

He said: “Both legends to me, both won an equal number of Grand Slams, I believe, and one is considered part of the Big Four group [Murray, Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal], and the other is not.”

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Murray used an injury layoff in March after the Miami Open to experiment with new racquets, moving from Head to a different manufacturer, Yonex.

He added: “What I want to look at is Andy Murray’s new racquet. After 20 years of playing with one racquet, he switches brands after playing his whole career, which is very surprising for a tennis professional."

Stan Wawrinka

Image credit: Getty Images

His new, modified model, the Ezone 100 has a different shape and is larger in size, which may afford him more power.

Zverev concluded: “I think that shows that he’s still trying, he still wants to feel new things on court, and become better in some way.”

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You can watch every day of the 2024 French Open live and on-demand on discovery+.

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