Abby Brammell

By Mike Dickson

Brit of alright: Andy Murray came from two sets down to beat Richard Gasquet


Andy Murray spent four hours and four minutes on Monday trying to haunt Richard Gasquet with that most felicitous French phrase: deja vu.

Just less than two years after their epic fourth-round match at Wimbledon, when Murray pulled out a third-set tiebreak before beating Gasquet in five sets, he produced a very similar trick, this time in the Frenchman's back yard.

The French word dur - meaning hard - also sprung to mind once the 23-year-old Scot had finished off his supremely gifted opponent with an ace to win 4-6, 6-7, 6-4, 6-2, 6-1, the shadows having stretched over an enthralled ensemble on Court Suzanne Lenglen.

This was a performance hewn from granite, in which Murray ruthlessly ground down the in-form Gasquet through sheer force of will rather than any blizzard of beautiful shotmaking.

As at Wimbledon, Gasquet really should have won and was the better player for the majority of the match. He would have won hands down on artistic merit but Murray fought as if his life depended on it in somehow shutting out his man in the third set and then capitalising on superior physical resources.

In the second round he will meet Argentina's Juan Ignacio Chela, whom he thrashed in the first round here last year and beat again at the Madrid Open two weeks ago


Fightback: Murray repeated his Wimbledon comeback against Gasquet after winning in five sets


He will go into it mentally stiffened by this victory over Gasquet, who entirely justified his billing as a nightmare draw and showed precisely why he came into Roland Garros having just won two consecutive titles and 10 straight matches.

Ultimately, though, another statistic proved more telling, the one which shows that Murray had won six of his previous five-set matches.

That speaks of rare mental and physical strength, and he drew on all that against an opponent whose wonderful ball-striking ability has been undermined by the reputation of being, frankly, slightly wet.

There was always the sense that if Murray could just eke out one set and take this encounter into anything resembling extra time then he would eventually prevail.

The downside of Gasquet's recent string of victories was that he had arrived here on Saturday night straight from winning in Nice with too much recent mileage on the clock, and once the third set was over he was forced into running repairs on his sore legs.

The upside was that he was in supremely confident form, and before the fuel gauge hit rock bottom he played like someone who had forgotten how to lose, repeatedly coming up with blinding serves and groundstroke winners on every crucial point, a habit that quickly had Murray gurning in frustration.


Fastest out of the blocks: Home favourite Gasquet took the first two sets in Paris


Not only that, but the world No 4 was upset by what he saw as deliberate stalling tactics from the Frenchman when he came to serve, and made his feelings known on several occasions to the umpire.


Great Scot: Murray is through to the second round


Gasquet has not always endeared himself to the fickle masses of Roland Garros with some flaky performances in his home Grand Slam but by the second set they were chanting his name as he produced gloriously attacking tennis.

With Murray struggling to land enough first serves - again - he was continually pounced upon with that magnificent single-fisted backhand that cuts a beautiful arc. In fairness, the crowd were won over even at the end, when the finish had been completely run out of Gasquet, and cheered him from the court.

He worked to a plan of trying to finish the points quickly and the result was a dizzying array of winners that reeled in the tiebreak 7-5 and gained him a break for 3-2 up in the third. Then came the Scot's decisive break back, followed by another break, and while he failed to serve the set out at 5-3, he profited from a rare double fault that produced a set point, which was converted with a driven forehand.


Shaking hands: Murray beat Gasquet in four hours and four minutes


While Murray can be proud of the way he battled, and of his clever use of tactics such as the drop shot to exhaust his opponent, there are areas he needs to put right if he is to go deep into the tournament.

His first serve percentage for the match was down at 47, and until Gasquet went into a tailspin he was unable to hurt him with his groundstrokes either.

It would have been good to see Murray hitting out more in the earlier stages rather than inviting Gasquet on to him, but he can point any detractors in the direction of the scoresheet, which shows that the job was done.

Gasquet said: 'Maybe this wasn't his best match but it is always so difficult to play Andy, especially in a Grand Slam. He fights and fights and I couldn't finish him off. I just have no energy left, after the third set I had nothing left to give.'


source :dailymail