French Open: Andy Murray survives another scare to beat Mathias Bourgue in five sets

Murray beat the Frenchman 6-2, 2-6, 4-6, 6-2, 6-3

Andy Murray celebrates after the hard-fought victory (Getty)

Say what you like about Andy Murray but you can never take your eyes off the man. The 29-year-old Scot played one of the most topsy-turvy contests of his career when he recovered from a mid-match slump to beat Mathias Bourgue 6-2, 2-6, 4-6, 6-2, 6-3 here in the second round of the French Open. The win came just 24 hours after Murray had come back from two sets down to beat Radek Stepanek in the first round.

Bourgue, a 22-year-old Frenchman playing in his first Grand Slam tournament, was an unlikely central character in this piece of high drama. The world No 164, who had never previously faced a top 50 opponent, played the match of his life, winning eight games in a row as he took the second and third sets with some thrilling tennis, though he also capitalised on some listless play by Murray.

“I lost my way on the court for quite a while,” Murray admitted afterwards. “I think I showed a lot of heart the last few days in tough, tough matches and in a tough atmosphere today. Maybe I wasn’t feeling or playing my best, but I found a way to win.”

If Murray goes on to win the title he would be the first to do so after playing five-set matches in the first two rounds since Gaston Gaudio in 2004. Having played for three days in a row – his victory over Stepanek was spread over Monday and Tuesday because of the weather – he will at least have a day of rest before his third-round meeting on Friday with Ivo Karlovic.

“It’s been a tough few days and I’m going to have to recover extremely well,” Murray said. “If I’m to go far in this tournament I can’t play too many matches like this.”

There has been much talk in recent days about Murray’s on-court behaviour and in particular his shouting and ranting in the general direction of his entourage. For the best part of two sets Murray was all but silent, which seemed to prove the point he had made that he plays his best tennis when he is expressing his emotions on court.

Asked later if he thought his subdued body language might have something to do with his first-round efforts, Murray said: “It was a pretty stressful couple of days. Coming back the next day and playing is not easy and the fifth set I played against Radek was tense.

Murray speaks with Bourgue at the end of the match (Getty)

But I didn't start [Wednesday's] match that way. Normally you would think that you would start the match off a little bit flatter. But there was a period there where I was a little bit flat. I don't know if that's because I was missing balls. I couldn't get myself into any rallies, and there wasn't really much to get fired up about, but a lot of that is down to the way that he played.”

Such is the conveyor belt of talent on this side of the Channel that Bourgue is the French No 16. His progress has been steady rather than spectacular. He broke into the world’s top 200 last year and has never been higher than his present position at No 164 in the rankings.

On a warmer and brighter day on Court Philippe Chatrier everything seemed straightforward for Murray when he took the first set with plenty to spare after breaking serve in the fourth and eighth games.

When Bourgue double-faulted on break point to give Murray a 2-0 lead at the start of the second set the Scot’s supporters might have been starting to think ahead to table bookings for an early dinner or a leisurely walk back through the Bois de Boulogne, but the match changed almost as if by the flick of a switch.

Bourgue, remarkably, won the next eight games in a row. With Murray suddenly looking flat and playing cautiously, the Frenchman took advantage. His confidence rising, he started to go for his shots and hit some excellent winners with a mixture of smart ground strokes and deft touches.

Perhaps sensing a lack of energy in Murray, Bourgue used the drop shot more regularly, playing many to perfection. From 2-2 and 30-30 Bourgue won 16 points in a row to take the second set and go 0-30 up on Murray’s serve at the start of the third. The Scot momentarily stopped the rot with an ace, but at the end of the game he hit two double faults to give Bourgue his fourth successive break of serve.

“He started playing unbelievably and I was finding it hard to win points, not just games,” Murray said afterwards. “It was a very big turnaround.”

With Bourgue leading 2-0, Murray finally won another game, but the damage had been done and there were no more breaks in the third set. When the Frenchman served at 5-4 he hit two superb drop shots in going 40-0 up and then converted the second of his set points with a backhand winner down the line.

By now Bourgue was milking the crowd’s applause and encouraging them to turn up the volume. They duly obliged with a rousing chorus of “Allez les Bleus!”

Murray, however, came out fighting at the start of the fourth set. He had changed a black shirt for a white one, but the message was of fightback rather than surrender. Having saved two break points in the opening game, he showed renewed aggression to take control of more points. He was also more animated and greeted his break of serve in the fourth game with a huge roar of “Yes!”

In the fifth set Murray made his move in the fourth game, breaking serve with a bold attacking backhand. Another break two games later gave the Scot the chance to serve out for the victory, only for Bourgue to break back in a final act of defiance. Murray, however, completed the job two games later, sealing his victory with a big backhand down the line after more than three and a half hours.

“Obviously it doesn't happen that often where you're struggling to win points, but I managed to win the match” Murray said later. “That's what I'm here to do. I don't want to play five sets every round and don't want to have big drop-offs in matches, but I was trying. I was trying to find a way. It wasn't like I wasn’t there mentally. I just couldn't find the court. I was missing balls.”

Bourgue was in tears when he was interviewed on court at the end. “It was an enormous match,” he said. “It will be a great memory. There’s a lot of emotion.”

Murray said he expected the Frenchman to have a big future. “He was excellent,” Murray said. “He was the one dictating a lot of the points, making me run a lot and fighting right to the end when I had a big lead in the fifth set.”

Following his victory over Stepanek, Murray will face another 37-year-old in the third round. Stepanek was the oldest man to play in the singles at a Grand Slam tournament for 24 years, while Karlovic is the oldest man to reach the third round of a Grand Slam event for 25 years. Jimmy Connors played at the 1992 US Open at 39 and reached the third round at the French and US Opens the previous year at 38.

Karlovic came through a five-set marathon to earn his meeting with Murray. The 6ft 11in Croatian, who has one of the biggest serves in the game, hit 41 aces in beating Australia’s Jordan Thompson 6-7, 6-3, 7-6, 6-7, 12-10 after more than four and a half hours.

Kyle Edmund’s tournament ended in a 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 defeat to the big-serving American, John Isner. The Briton had three break points – all of them in the sixth game of the second set - but could not convert any of them, while Isner took three of his nine opportunities.