Stan Wawrinka survives first-round scare at French Open

Stan Wawrinka’s bid to defend his French Open title got off to a rocky start Monday. Wawrinka got all that he could handle from his first-round opponent Lukas Rosol in a five-set match that stretched over three hours.

Rosol drew first blood, coming out aggressive to take the first set 6-4. Wawrinka then fought back, taking the second set 6-1. But Rosol would not go down easy, matching everything Wawrinka had to offer and then some. He downed the third-ranked Wawrinka in the third 6-4 to put him on his heels yet again.

Playing upset wasn’t new to Rosol, as he knocked off Rafael Nadal at Wimbledon in 2012. And Wawrinka and Rosol had met just less than a week ago in the Geneva Open semifinals. Wawrinka had an easier go in that match, winning 6-2, 4-6, 6-3 to reach the final of the French Open tune-up tournament.

But at Roland Garros, Wawrinka suddenly found himself down 2-1 and needing to fight back to force a fifth set to avoid becoming the first defending Roland Garros champion in the Open era to bow out in the first round.

Rosol had Wawrinka on the brink of elimination in the fourth set, but Wawrinka saved two break points and found the control he had been missing to take the match to a decisive fifth set. Wawrinka then quickly put away Rosol to advance to the Round of 64.