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Tennis: Experienced campaigners Andy Murray, Stan Wawrinka make early Australian Open exits

Tennis: Experienced campaigners Andy Murray, Stan Wawrinka make early Australian Open exits

Tennis: Andy Murray, Stan Wawrinka make early Australian Open exits

Five-times runner-up Andy Murray and 2014 champion Stan Wawrinka have enjoyed plenty of deep runs at the Australian Open but the veteran pair were both dumped out in the first round on Monday. Murray fell 6-4 6-2 6-2 to Argentine Tomas Martin Etcheverry while Wawrinka took 20th seed Adrian Mannarino to five sets before going down 6-4 3-6 5-7 6-3 6-0.

The last time Murray went out in the opening round of the Melbourne Park major was in 2019 when the Scot expressed doubts about his tennis future before going on to resurrect his career after having hip-resurfacing surgery. The 36-year-old twice Wimbledon champion has struggled to reach the latter stages at Grand Slams in recent years but dragged himself into the third round in Melbourne in 2023 with back-to-back five-sets wins.

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Wawrinka was the only player in the men's draw other than defending champion Novak Djokovic to have claimed the Melbourne Park trophy and the 38-year-old Swiss hoped Monday's loss would not be his final appearance at the Grand Slam. "I'll see how the year goes. It's just the beginning of the year," Wawrinka said. "In general, I'm quite positive with where I am right now. "Even after the loss, there is some good opportunity for me to keep pushing, keep playing some good results and hopefully I can come back next year."

DANIIL MEDVEDEV GETS A WALKOVER

AFP: Frenchman Terence Atmane smashed his racquet, served underarm and retired in tears as he dealt with serious cramp in pushing third seed Daniil Medvedev hard at the Australian Open on Monday. The qualifier struggled in the searing heat on Margaret Court Arena, stunning the Russian by taking the first set but was unable to continue when trailing 5-7, 6-2, 6-4, 1-0.

"The conditions were brutal," said two-time tournament finalist Medvedev. "The more he (Atmane) plays this intensity, the better he will be prepared." "I'm just happy to be through," he added. "I played bad at the beginning in the first set, but I was happy I could regain momentum."