French Open: Wawrinka Suffers Shock First Round Exit

Australian Open champion Stanislas Wawrinka this evening in Paris made an early exit from the French Open after losing in four sets to unseeded Spaniard Guillermo Garcia-Lopez.

Third seeded Wawrinka, after winning the Monte Carlo Masters, endured early exits from the following Madrid and Rome Masters in his preparation for Roland Garros, where he made it to the quarterfinal stage last year.

But after the Swiss levelled his first round match at a set apiece by winning the second set on a tie-break, Garcia-Lopez barged his way to a shock 6-4, 5-7, 6-2, 6-0 victory to reach the second round.

In other first round matches completed today, Dutchman Robin Hasse got a straight sets win over Russian veteran Nikolai Davydenko, Tommy Robredo came from a set down to beat Britain’s James Ward in four sets Feliciano Lopez beat Damir Dzumhur in straight sets.

There were also straight sets wins for Jürgen Melzer of Germany, Marin Cilic of Croatia and Fabio Fognini of Italy. Leonardo Mayer of Argentina also came through his first round match, beating Australian James Duckworth in four sets.