Murray survives another five-set thriller

PARIS, May 25

Andy Murray avoided suffering his earliest Grand Slam defeat for eight years by clawing his way into the French Open third round with a five-set win over swashbuckling French journeyman Mathias Bourgue on Wednesday.

The British second seed, who survived a five-set thriller in the first round, eventually triumphed 6-2 2-6 4-6 6-2 6-3. Murray appeared to be on course for an easy victory when he was a set and 2-0 up against the 164th-ranked wildcard who had never played a Tour-level match before this week.

But the Scot went into a mid-match meltdown as Bourgue won eight games in a row, including 16 successive points, by  torturing his more celebrated rival with a mix of devilish dropshots, flying forehands and venomous volleys.

The 22-year-old Frenchman kept up his antics to take the third set before Murray’s survival skills finally kicked in.

After saving three break points in the opening game of the fourth set, which dragged on for 10 minutes, Murray found a way to crack Bourgue’s serve for a 3-1 lead and then clung on to secure the victory.

Murray’s life is unlikely to get much easier in the next round as he will face 37-year-old big-serving Croatian Ivo Karlovic, the oldest man to reach the third round of a Grand Slam for 25 years, for a place in the last-16. 

Japan’s Kei Nishikori outclassed Russian Andrey Kuznetsov 6-3 6-3 6-3 in the second round.

Wawrinka picks pace

Defending French Open champion Stan Wawrinka avoided a repeat on Wednesday of his first-round scare, though he was still made to work hard in a straight-sets win over Japan’s Taro Daniel. The Swiss third seed won 7-6(7) 6-3 6-4 on a sunny Court Suzanne Lenglen and is now on a six-match winning streak on clay, having warmed-up for Roland Garros by winning the title in Geneva last week.

Sania-Martina in Rd 2

Sania Mirza and Martina Hingis beat Russian girls Daria Kasatkina and Alexandra Panova 7-6(4) 6-2 in the opening round. Rohan Bopanna and his Romanian partner Florin Mergea, seeded sixth, were dominating in their 6-2 6-2 win over Stephane Robert and Alexandre Sidorenko. Leander Paes and Marcin Matkowski beat Belarus' Aliaksandr Bury and Denis Istomin 7-6 (3) 7-6 (8-6).

Halep, Radwanska advance

Simona Halep booked her place in the third round, defeating Zarina Diyas 7-6(5), 6-2. Also safely through to the last-32 were Petra Kvitova, a 6-4, 6-1 winner over Hsieh Su-Wei, and Svetlana Kuznetsova, who impressed during a 6-1, 6-3 win over Heather Watson. Garbine Muguruza swept aside Myrtille Georges 6-2 6-0. 

Agnieszka Radwanska took advantage of Caroline Garcia's weak serve to advance into the third round with a 6-2 6-4 victory. — Agencies