Grand slam tennis, played over five sets, often comes down to a survival of the fittest but Andy Murray faces a shootout of just over a set today to preserve his French Open title hopes after a topsy-turvy battle with seasoned Czech Radek Stepanek.
After dropping the first two sets to the 37-year-old, now ranked 129 but once as high as high as No.8 in 2010, Murray stormed back to win nine games in a row and when darkness forced them off Court Philippe Chatrier at 9.22pm local time, he was two games from levelling up at 3-6, 3-6, 6-0, 4-2.
The wheels well and truly came off Stepanek as Murray forced himself out of his slumber and had there been enough light, he surely would have gone on to record his ninth career comeback from two sets down.
As it is, with a night’s rest, Stepanek will be dangerous when they come back to finish off later today but strangely, Murray was smart to take his foot off the gas a little as darkness descended.
Had he completed the fourth set, a one-set shootout would have allowed Stepanek to go for broke from the start today; this way, with some of the fourth set to finish, Murray should not be caught cold.
Having won Rome to regain the No 2 ranking, and with it the No 2 seeding here, beating world No 1 Novak Djokovic in the final, Murray has been talking up his chances of the title.
His win over Djokovic has encouraged many to believe that he could win it for the first time and the Serb’s coach, Boris Becker, was courtside last night.
For two sets, as Stepanek toyed with Murray in every department of the game, out-serving him, out-thinking him and out-competing him, Becker must have wondered if he was watching an imposter.
Murray has always been prone to the odd slow start and admitted that there are always a few nerves kicking around before grand slams.
The he-said, she-said nature of his break-up with coach Amelie Mauresmo – and more than anything, the fact that it has been played out in the French media – will not have pleased the Scot.
And the way he was putting his finger to his lips at times last night suggested that his mind was perhaps not 100 percent on the task at hand.
Certainly in the early stages, his legs looked heavy, his movement laboured and his thought-process clouded, allowing an inspired Stepanek to take full advantage.
Stepanek, who had neck surgery two and a half years ago, had to qualify for the main draw but he played smart, all-court tennis in the early stages, showing off his full box of tricks.
Murray was broken in the third game, double-faulting and then blaming the umpire for upsetting his rhythm, having come out of his chair to check a call after the linesman had incorrectly indicated the first serve to be in.
That rankled Murray and he struggled to find his timing, having started at 7.07pm on a cool evening after a second successive when play was delayed by heavy rain.
When he dropped the first set, Murray must have known he did not have enough time to get the job done before the light ran out.
When he broke serve in the opening game of the second set he looked back on track but he immediately dropped serve and then was broken again in the eighth game before Stepanek, despite one horrendously nervy smash, served out for a two-set lead.
Perhaps it was a sudden realisation of the seriousness of the situation but something seemed to galvanise Murray and he suddenly found his game, ripping through the third set for the loss of just six points.
As Stepanek, a man who was renowned for pushing the limits with his gamesmanship when at the peak of his powers, took a bathroom break, Murray told the umpire to keep an eye on the time taken.
The Czech was duly warned when he returned to the court and Murray did not let up, winning the first three games of the set with more attacking, aggressive tennis.
Stepanek stopped the rot when he held serve in the fourth game but Murray maintained his advantage and will not have been unhappy to stop at 4-2.
Defending champion Stan Wawrinka needed five sets to get past Lukas Rosol, the Czech who beat Rafael Nadal at Wimbledon a few years ago.
There were good wins for two Britons with Kyle Edmund taking out Nikoloz Bailashvili of Georgia 7-6, 6-7, 7-5, 6-1 and Heather Watson coming from a break down in the final set to beat American Nicole Gibbs 5-7, 6-2, 6-2.
But England’s Naomi Broady was edged out 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 by another American, Coco Wandeweghe.
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