Andy Murray crashed out in the first round of the French Open in what could be his final appearance in Roland Garros.

The two-time Wimbledon champion faced Stan Wawrinka in the opening round in Paris but fell to a 6-4-6-4-6-2 straight sets defeat.

AFP

Murray waved goodbye to the crowd at Roland Garros after his first round exit[/caption]

Remarkably, it’s the third French Open in a row that he has been knocked out by Wawrinka.

His last outing in Paris was in 2020 when he fell to a straight-sets first round defeat against the Swiss star, while his most recent outing before that was in 2017 when he was beaten in five sets at the semi-final stage.

The 37-year-old is coming to the end of his career and appeared unlikely to feature at Roland Garros having ruptured his ankle ligaments just nine weeks ago.

But despite battling back to fitness, it wasn’t enough as Murray was easily beaten, leading to an emotional farewell as he waved goodbye to the crowd in what is likely to be his last outing in the grand slam.

With Wawrinka now 39 years of age, it was a clash that turned back the clock with both stars among the elite in tennis during the last decade.

After the match, Wawrinka told Eurosport: “My first words were respect for a great champion.

“I have loved watching him [Andy Murray] play, loved fighting against him. We’ve had a lot of fights over the last 15 years.

“We are not very young so we did all we could and remember all these moments.

Getty

“I love to work in front of a crowd like this. I’ve shared a lot of emotion with this crowd and they gave me a lot of energy to fight. In my head I’m still a young guy, still a kid.”