Roland-Garros: Wawrinka overcomes Ramos-Vinolas in epic first-round encounter

Stan Wawrinka advanced to the second round of Roland-Garros by winning against Spaniard Albert Ramos-Vinolas 7-6 (5), 6-4, 6-7 (2), 1-6, 6-4 on the second day of the tournament in Paris.

Wawrinka, ranked No 89, will face Australian wildcard Thanasi Kokkinakis next, who beat Dan Evans in straight sets.

Wawrinka takes the long route round

The 2015 Roland-Garros champion had led his Spanish opponent by two sets to love, before Ramos-Vinolas, a fiercely tough clay-court competitor, clawed his way back to level the match at two sets apiece.

The Spaniard took the fourth set in comfortable fashion 6-1, in what looked to be a concerning slump for Wawrinka. However, the Swiss former world No 3 held his nerve to win a tight and tense deciding set, breaking in the seventh game to nudge ahead.

Stan Wawrinka is now the player with the most wins in five sets at the Roland Garros in the Open Era (11), surpassing Gael Monfils and Harold Solomon (10 each).

From there, Wawrinka held firmly onto his lead, eventually serving out to win an epic encounter in just over four-and-a-half hours.

Paris (Grand Slam), other first-round results (Stade Roland-Garros, clay, EUR 49.600.000, most recent results first):

• Gael Monfils vs. Sebastian Baez
• Timofey Skatov vs. Grigor Dimitrov
• Michael Mmoh vs. Taylor Fritz
• Richard Gasquet vs. Arthur Rinderknech
• Quentin Halys vs. Guido Pella
• Emil Ruusuvuori vs. Gregoire Barrere
• Thiago Monteiro vs. Yannick Hanfmann
• Francisco Cerundolo vs. Jaume Munar
• Holger Rune vs. Christopher Eubanks
• Thiago Seyboth Wild vs. Daniil Medvedev
• Hugo Gaston vs. Alex Molcan
• Alexander Zverev vs. Lloyd Harris
• Alexander Bublik vs. Giulio Zeppieri
• Max Purcell vs. Jordan Thompson
• Yoshihito Nishioka vs. J.J. Wolf
• Elias Ymer vs. Casper Ruud
• Nicolas Jarry vs. Hugo Dellien
• Tommy Paul vs. Dominic Stricker
• Andrea Vavassori vs. Miomir Kecmanovic
• Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard vs. Genaro Alberto Olivieri
• Jannik Sinner vs. Alexandre Muller
• Luca Van Assche vs. Marco Cecchinato
• Filip Krajinovic vs. Frances Tiafoe: monday
• Zhizhen Zhang vs. Dusan Lajovic
• Daniel Altmaier vs. Marc-Andrea Huesler: monday
• Carlos Alcaraz vs. Flavio Cobolli: monday
• Jiri Lehecka vs. Jan-Lennard Struff: monday
• Arthur Fils vs. Alejandro Davidovich Fokina: monday
• Marcos Giron beat Hamad Medjedovic (Q): 6-0, 6-2, 1-6, 6-0
• Dominic Thiem vs. Pedro Cachin: monday
• Borna Coric vs. Federico Coria: monday
• Thiago Agustin Tirante beat Botic van de Zandschulp (25): 6-2, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4
• Novak Djokovic (3) beat Aleksandar Kovacevic: 6-3, 6-2, 7-6 (1)
• Taro Daniel beat Christopher O’Connell: 6-0, 6-2, 6-4
• Fabio Fognini beat Felix Auger-Aliassime (10): 6-4, 6-4, 6-3
• Roberto Bautista Agut (19) beat Yibing Wu: 7-6 (4), 6-1, 6-1
• Aslan Karatsev (Q) beat Alexei Popyrin: 6-3, 6-7 (4), 6-1, 6-2
• Tomas Martin Etcheverry beat Jack Draper: 6-4, 1-0 ret.
• Alex De Minaur (18) beat Ilya Ivashka: 6-1, 5-7, 6-1, 6-3
• Juan Pablo Varillas beat Juncheng Shang (Q): 4-6, 2-6, 6-2, 6-3, 6-1
• Diego Schwartzman beat Bernabe Zapata Miralles (32): 1-6, 6-7 (5), 6-2, 6-0, 6-4
• Cameron Norrie (14) beat Benoit Paire (WC): 7-5, 4-6, 3-6, 6-1, 6-4
• Denis Shapovalov (26) beat Brandon Nakashima: 6-4, 7-5, 4-6, 3-6, 6-3
• Lucas Pouille (Q) beat Jurij Rodionov (LL): 6-2, 6-4, 6-3
• Ugo Humbert beat Adrian Mannarino: 6-3, 6-3, 6-1
• Alexander Shevchenko beat Oscar Otte: 7-5, 4-6, 6-1, 7-6 (2)
• Lorenzo Sonego beat Ben Shelton (30): 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, 6-3
• Andrey Rublev (7) beat Laslo Djere: 6-1, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4
• Corentin Moutet beat Arthur Cazaux (WC): 6-1, 6-3, 4-6, 6-4
• Lorenzo Musetti (17) beat Mikael Ymer: 7-5, 6-2, 6-4
• Roberto Carballes Baena beat Emilio Nava (Q): 7-6 (5), 6-3, 6-2
• Matteo Arnaldi beat Daniel Elahi Galan: 2-6, 6-3, 6-0, 6-2
• Sebastian Korda (24) beat Mackenzie McDonald: 6-4, 7-5, 6-4
• Nuno Borges beat John Isner: 6-4, 5-7, 7-6 (3), 4-6, 7-6 (9)
• Jason Kubler beat Facundo Diaz Acosta (LL): 1-6, 6-3, 6-4, 3-6, 6-1
• Stefanos Tsitsipas (5) beat Jiri Vesely: 7-5, 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 (7)
• Marton Fucsovics beat Hugo Grenier (WC): 6-3, 5-7, 6-1, 6-3
• Thanasi Kokkinakis beat Daniel Evans (20): 6-4, 6-4, 6-4
• Radu Albot (Q) beat Patrick Kypson (WC): 6-3, 6-2, 4-6, 6-1
• Karen Khachanov (11) beat Constant Lestienne: 3-6, 1-6, 6-2, 6-1, 6-3
• Hubert Hurkacz (13) beat David Goffin: 6-3, 5-7, 6-4, 2-6, 6-4
• Tallon Griekspoor beat Pedro Martinez (Q): 6-4, 2-6, 0-6, 7-5, 6-3
• Sebastian Ofner (Q) beat Maxime Cressy: 6-4, 7-6 (6), 6-2