CONCERN, for one reason or other, has been writ large on the face of Andy Murray for the past four days here but despite going the distance for the second successive match, the only thing that matters is that his French Open title bid is still alive, just.

Having recovered from two sets down to beat Czech Radek Stepanek in a battle played out over two days, Murray was all at sea yesterday, two sets to one down to a 164th-ranked French wildcard, Mathias Bourgue, before rallying to win 6-2, 2-6, 4-6, 6-2, 6-3 in three hours, 44 minutes.

Going to five sets twice in the first two matches, in a tournament that requires seven best-of-five-set wins from its champion, is hardly ideal as he tries to win here for the first time.

“It’s not the perfect way to start a grand slam but I’ve done well to get through,” Murray told French TV in an interview conducted in part by his former coach, Amelie Mauresmo, with whom he split earlier this month.

However, winning the first two rounds and taking the French Open title has been done before, most recently by the Argentinian, Gaston Gaudio, in 2004, who also won the final in five sets, from two sets down, to boot.

The good news is that he has today and though he is sure to practice, as players always do on their off-days, not having the stress of a battle should help rest his body and mind.

But Murray knows he will need to be much more on the money when he plays Ivo Karlovic, another 37-year-old, in the third round tomorrow.

And Karlovic, who hit a routine 41 aces in his win over Australian Jordan Henderson, coming out on top 12-10 in the final set, is not going to present Murray with the physical challenge that Bourgue did.

“I think maybe once I have started a slam playing two five-set matches in the first couple of rounds,” said Murray, referring to the 2005 US Open, when he lost in round two.

“The positive is I play Karlovic in the next round, and physically, the average rally length will only be a few shots, maybe three, four shots max. So that's a positive there.

“For sure, I will be tired. At least I get a day's rest now. But you can't continue playing matches like that and then expect to win the tournament. So if I can get through the next one, it will be nice to win it a bit quicker.”

If he was never as close to defeat as he was to Stepanek, when the Czech was two points from knocking him out on two occasions in the final set, it was the way his game crumbled in the middle of the match that will perhaps be of the biggest concern.

Having eased through the first set against a 22-year-old whose only other Tour level win came in the first round here, Murray looked in total command when he broke to lead 2-0 in the second.

But inexplicably, Murray, who beat world No 1 Novak Djokovic for the Rome title only 11 days ago, completely lost his way, losing eight straight games as Bourgue levelled and led 2-0 in the third set.

On by far the sunniest, warmest day of the tournament to date, Murray lost his range, was beaten by numerous drop shots and at times, was almost unable to even keep the ball in play at times.

But as always, he fought. Varying his game, he offered Bourgue less rhythm and began to dictate far more of the points.

It paid dividends with an early break in the fourth set and Murray then led 5-1 in the decider only for Bourgue to hit back and at 5-3, 15-30, he had a half-chance to get back on terms.

But Murray escaped a poor drop shot with a fine lob volley and he held on to get over the line.

With John Isner seeded to be his fourth-round opponent, Murray has two matches, in theory, that will be far less physical than his first two.

He also knows that, as part of the bottom half of the draw, he would have an extra day off after his quarter-final compared to those in the top half, giving him more time to recover.

Coincidence or not, as Mauresmo asked Murray the post-match questions on TV – 24 hours after the Scot vehemently denied their split had been in any way acrimonious - relations between the two looked very friendly.

Murray pointed to his chest after the win, saying to his support box: “That’s heart. Oh yeah, that’s heart,” but he, more than anyone, knows he will need more than his incredible will-power and fighting spirit to have a chance at the title.