Britain’s Andy Murray returns the ball to Czech Republic’s Radek Stepanek during the men’s first round match at the Roland Garros 2016 French Tennis Open in Paris on Tuesday.
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Murray was rocking, but saved three break points at the start of the fourth set and gradually seized back control to prevail 6-2 2-6 4-6 6-2 6-3 in three hours 34 minutes.
Murray came within two points of defeat but squeezed thorugh 3-6 3-6 6-3 6-3 7-5 after an almighty scare against the 37 year-old qualifier ranked 129 in the world.
Andy Murray’s fightback against Radek Stepanek at the French Open was halted by the fading light as he trailed 3-6 3-6 6-0 4-2 when play was suspended yesterday.
When he pummeled a backhand victor down the line to take the third set Murray was stunned and the partisan Court Philippe Chatrier crowd were in full cry.
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But the world No. 2 admitted he needed the noisy support of Team Murray to escape a first-round upset at the French Open following his recent split with coach Amelie Mauresmo. That was the match, as Murray soon sealed a five-set win.
“I’ve played matches like this before and tried to fight through to the end because your opponent can hit a rough patch”. The left-handed Kerber briefly left the court and returned to win her service game but could not break again and lost.
“Very tricky, challenging”, Murray said. “Obviously what’s happened the last few days has been hard, because I didn’t have a chance to talk about it or respond or anything”. “I don’t think you have to have a coach when you have that much experience”.
Novak Djokovic began his pursuit of the only grand slam title missing from his collection with a no-nonsense 6-4, 6-1, 6-1win over Taiwan’s Lu Yen-hsun.
The rumours started after Murray and Mauresmo were supposedly arguing in Madrid with the latter finally getting fed up with his behaviour on court. I dont expect to be doing that myself at that age.Murray, who will be 37 in eight years, progressed with Aljaz Bedene and Kyle Edmund to ensure three British men in the second round at Roland Garros for the first time since 1975.
The Frenchwoman, who has a nine-month-old baby, was travelling less and less with Murray and had only been present in Miami and at the Australian Open this year before the split was announced.
The elegant Richard Gasquet saw off Thomaz Bellucci 6-1 6-3 6-5, while Jeremy Chardy got the better of Leonardo Mayer 6-4 3-6 6-4 6-2 and Adrian Mannarino beat Mikhail Kukushkin 6-4 2-6 6-2 6-4.
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Muguruza, who has made the quarter-finals for the last two years, will next take on French wildcard Myrtille Georges, the world number 203.
