Andy Murray lost eight consective games to drop the second and the third set but fought back to battle past French wildcard Mathias Bourgue 6-2 2-6 4-6 6-2 6-3 on the Phillippe Chatrier after three hours and 34 minutes in another five-set match to advance to the French Open third round. Murray had to fight back from two sets down for the ninth time in his career to overcome Radek Stepanek in five sets in the first round.
Murray broke serve twice in the first set at 2-1 and 5-2 to claim the first set in 40 minutes. Murray broke serve in the second game of the second set to open up a 2-0 lead but Bourgue fought back by winning six consecutive games with three consecutive breaks to clinch the second set 6-2.
The 22-year-old Frenchman reeled off 16 consecutive points from 3-2 30-30 to 30-0 in the first game of the third set, as Murray made a lot of unforced errors.
Murray made two double faults in the first game of the third set but broke Bourgue’s eight-game winning streak by claiming the third game of the third set.
Bourgue earned three break points but Murray bounced back to hold his serve. The 22-year-old Frenchman sealed the third set with a backhand winner.
Murray saved three break point in the first game of the fourth set with a backhand half-volley and this was the turning point of the match for the British star. He broke serve in the fourth game to open up a 3-1 lead in the fourth set and held his serve to love. Murray sealed the fourth set with a break to love to force the match to the decider.
Murray won a long rally with a drop shot and held his service game for 1-0 in the fifth set. In the second game Bourgue got it back to deuce with an overhead lob and took the advantage. The French player held serve with a drop shot. At 40-30 in the third game Murray held his serve with an error from Bourgue. Murray broke serve in the fourth game of the fifth set for 3-1 taking advantage of errors from the Frenchman.
In the fifth game Murray raced out to a 40-0 lead. Bourgue clawed his way back to 30-40 but Murray held his serve as Bourgue hit into the net. Murray got a double break at deuce in the sixth game for 5-1. Murray went down 15-30 on his service game and hit into the net after a long rally to face two break points at 15-40 as he was serving for the match. Bourgue broke back on his second chance. Murray earned a match point at 5-3 40-30 and sealed the win after three hours and 34 minutes as Bourgue hit his return into the net.
Before today Bourgue played just one Grand Slam match in the first round of this year’s Roland Garros on Monday.
Murray will take on Ivo Karlovic in the third set on Friday. The Croatian giant battled past Australian Jordna Thompson 6-7 (2-7) 6-3 7-6 (7-3) 6-7 (4-7) 12-10
“Mathias was excellent amd made me run a lot. He has got a fantastic future for sure. I led 6-2 2-0 then he started playing unbelievably and I was finding it hard to win points, let alone games. I have played matches like this before and tried to fight through to the end because opponents can hit a rough patch. You can’t too many matches like this if you want to go far in this tournament. I hope to win the next one a little bit faster
