Andy Murray finally overcame the stubborn Radek Stepanek to clinch a five-set victory in the first round of the French Open.
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Murray held a 4-2 lead in the fourth set before play was called due to darkness.
The second-seeded Murray made the most of Bourgue’s drop of energy to claw his way back into the match and set up a contest with big-serving Ivo Karlovic in the next round.
Luckily for the 29-year-old, he won the final three sets to book his place in the second round. At 37 years old, coming out and fighting like that.
He said: “People ask me, ‘Why do you still want to play qualifying at your age after you have been at the top?’ The love for the game is there, no matter where I’m standing or what the number of my ranking is”.
“I’m very satisfied after a tough first match”, the 31-year-old Wawrinka, again sporting a dazzling fluorescent yellow shirt, said in an on-court interview. He hardly missed any volleys – until the one on match point and even that almost got over – hit a lot of drop shots and hit the ball very flat, and that made it very hard for me to dictate and get any rhythm. “But I had to fight extremely hard today”, Murray said, before walking off to prepare for French wildcard Mathias Bourge.
The Scot took his third set point to win the fourth set 6-3 to send this first-round grudge match into a decider after two hours and 30 minutes.
“I was out for eight months so I’m very pleased for every minute I can spend on the court”.
Murray was two points from defeat when serving at 4-5 but held his nerve and broke in the next game.
This was not the match Murray wanted after responding to Amelie Mauresmo’s comments about the end of their coaching partnership.
Not since Gaston Gaudio in 2004 has a man been taken to five sets in each of the French Open’s first two rounds and gone on to lift the trophy.
The clay courts of Roland Garros host the second Grand Slam of the season.
He joined his main rivals Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray in the second round.
“I hope to win the next one a little bit faster”. “But you can’t continue playing matches like that and then expect to win the tournament”.
He had no trouble polishing off that set but the fifth was hugely tense and at one point Stepanek was two points away from victory.
How it happened: It was a freaky match to watch – over two days – as Murray was coming into Paris fresh off a Rome victory over Novak Djokovic. “As long as I am healthy, I always say that, when the hardware is good, I have the software”.
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Murray put one arm around Stepanek, but stood upright and kept a safe distance from his opponent, a trick that was not so easy to do during the course of play.
