Andy Murray will spend a restless night in bed as he trails 3-6, 3-6, 6-0, 4-2, in his first round match against Radek Stepanek at the French Open.
The unexpected sharp start by the 37-year-old Czech stunned the world No.2 as Stepanek raced to a 6-3, 6-3, lead after 83 minutes of play. Murray was clearly unhappy with his poor start as he let his frustration out with a series of on court outbursts.
Murray has never lost to a player ranked outside the top-100 in a grand slam and has come back from two sets down on eight previous occasions. The Brit was on course to staging another epic comeback as he won nine consecutive games to force the match into a fourth set. Unfortunately for Murray, the night disrupted his momentum as darkness lead to the suspension of the match.
The world No.2 will resume his match tomorrow in what will be a nervous encounter for both men.Stepanek is just four games away from becoming the oldest man to win a match at the French Open since Jimmy Connors at the 192 US Open. Meanwhile, Murray finds himself on the verge of exiting the first round of the tournament for the first time since 2006.
Besides his stunning start to the match, Stepanek also found himself trending on Twitter after his unusual way of putting his contact lenses back in his eye.
EW RADEK. NO. GROSS. EWWWW. pic.twitter.com/Oz8CrBbOxq
— René Denfeld (@Renestance) 23 May 2016
Murray currently leads the head-to-head 6-2 against Stepanek. The world No.128 has a poor winning record against top-10 players, winning one out of his last 20 encounters. His one victory was against Murray at the 2014 Aegon Championships.
The first round encounter will resume tomorrow on Philippe-Chatrier Court. The match will take place after Angelique’s Kerbers match against Kiki Bertens.
