TENNIS FRENCH OPEN:ANDY MURRAY limps on in this French Open, in spirit and body, after an uncanny and excruciating reprise of his 2008 Wimbledon comeback against Richard Gasquet.
In that marathon over three hours and 57 minutes, Murray rose up from two sets down to fight his way through to the semi-finals, where he was chewed up by the eventual winner Rafa Nadal. The highlight was probably the shot of the tournament, a backhand winner in the third-set tie-break delivered from somewhere near Wimbledon station. Yesterday’s first-round win, seven minutes longer but also from two sets down, reached no such heights of excellence.
Its genesis, with Gasquet two sets up and 3-2 down in the third, saw the Frenchman sitting on his stool, clutching his left leg as if someone had put a hot knife through it. Cramp, knee pain and despair kicked in at the same time.
Victory – by 4-6, 6-7, 6-4, 6-2, 6-1 – brought relief more than satisfaction for Murray, who also hobbled intermittently on his chronically weak right knee, and it leaves him with a fortnight to go and some hard thinking to do about his prospects.
Murray, seeded fourth but playing like a qualifier until the closing stages, was lethargic yet typically determined, as he battled against the recent frailties of his own game. He could not buy a first serve worth the name and the ball bounced off his racket as if loaded with a team of warring termites.
The tough-to-read Frenchman, meanwhile, whipped exhilarating backhand winners past him almost at will in the first two hours, taking the early honours in retribution, it seemed, for the frustration of Wimbledon two years ago.
He claimed later the nightmare did not intrude on his thinking; it was hard to believe, so weirdly similar was the scenario.
Murray hung on and, as his one-time coach Brad Gilbert used to advocate, he won ugly. This was the fourth time he has come back from two sets down and he has now won seven of his last eight five-setters. He has won 10 and lost five of all his five-set tests.
Gasquet said he could not make out Murray’s complaint to the umpire about his own alleged slow play near the end. “I don’t speak Scottish,” he said.
As a poignant counterpoint to all that drama, Roger Federer, Murray’s conqueror in the Australian Open in January, hardly trembled at all in dismissing Peter Luczak. He won 6-4, 6-1, 6-2.
On the prospect of reaching a quarter-final against Robin Soderling, whom he beat in the 2009 final, Federer said: “It was a surprise that he made the finals and went so far. I think he’s had a very good year.” Faint praise as art.
Serena Williams admitted she was just pleased still to be in the French Open after struggling to shake off Swiss youngster Stefanie Voegele in yesterday’s first round.
The top seed was given an unexpectedly-tough time by the 20-year-old world number 76.
The American did not have things all her own way on Philippe Chatrier, particularly in the first set, but she did enough to come through 7-6 (7/2) 6-2.
“I definitely didn’t feel good about it,” Williams said. “At least I won. I think I’m still in the tournament; that’s what matters.”
Williams will face Germany’s Julia Goerges in the second round.
Third seed Caroline Wozniacki had no such problems dispatching of Alla Kudryavtseva to reach round two, where she will play Tathiana Garbin. Wozniacki showed no sign of the ankle injury that forced her to retire from the quarter-finals of the Warsaw Open last week in winning 6-0 6-3.
- Guardian Service
Today's Order of Play (All starts Irish-time)
Court Philippe Chatrier(from 10am) – T Pironkova (Bul) v (22) J Henin (Bel); (6) A Roddick (US) v J Nieminen (Fin); ME Camerin (Ita) v (13) M Bartoli (Fra) (28) L Hewitt (Aus) v J Chardy (Fra).
Court Suzanne Lenglen(from 10am) – (7) F Verdasco (Spa) v I Kunitsyn (Rus); (9) D Safina (Rus) v KD Krumm (Jap); G Mina (Fra) v (2) R Nadal (Spa); (12) M Sharapova (Rus) v K Pervak (Rus).
Court One(from 10am) – A Cornet (Fra) v (29) A Pavlyuchenkova (Rus); M Zverev (Ger) v N Mahut (Fra); (16) JC Ferrero (Spa) v P Cuevas (Uru); S Zahlavova (Cze) v (16) Y Wickmayer (Bel).
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