Published>Tue, May 25 10 02:08 AM
Andy Murray poured cold water over Richard Gasquet's French Open return on Monday, recovering from a two-set grilling to storm into the second round at Roland Garros as the day's headline act lived up to the hype.
The fourth seed was outplayed by a majestic Gasquet for the first two hours of a ferocious contest on a cauldron-like Suzanne Lenglen Court but for the fourth time in his career recovered from a two-set deficit to win 4-6 6-7 6-4 6-2 6-1.
By the end of a four-hour contest that began under searing mid-afternoon sunshine and ended in shadows Gasquet was spent, although the audacity of some of his shot-making suggested that he will soon be back where he belongs among the world's top 10.
Unable to play in his home slam in 2008 through injury and again in 2009 because of a doping ban that was later rescinded, the 23-year-old former French wonderkid had a partisan crowd roaring its approval but ultimately could not deliver the shock they had been hoping for from the moment the draw was made.
"I was close, but it was really, really hard for me to finish the match," Gasquet, who was briefly suspended last year after testing positive for cocaine he claimed he ingested kissing a girl in a nightclub, told reporters.
"In a grand slam you have to be 100 percent to win, especially against Andy. During the third set I had no energy."
For Murray, whose own dip this year after reaching the Australian Open final pales into insignificance compared to Gasquet's woes, what looked a hellish draw has suddenly opened up with a second round against Juan Ignacio Chela to come.
The Scot, also 23, knew he was in for a firefight after the flamboyant Gasquet won his first Tour title for three years in Nice last week and he was not to be disappointed as dazzling winners leapt from the racket of an inspired opponent.
He could only shake his head in wonder at some of Gasquet's hitting, particularly the rapier-like single-handed backhand which combines elegance and violence in equal measure and is as close to bio-mechanical perfection as a tennis shot can be.
Murray paid a heavy price for not steering his shots away from Gasquet's weapon of choice as time again his sturdy defences were holed by the ferocity of his opponent's hitting.
One luscious backhand winner off a meaty first serve even had the Scot chuckling across the net where the loose-limbed Gasquet offered a nonchalant shrug of his shoulders.
Murray, who became irritated by the time Gasquet was taking between points, crucially refused to panic, even when he went a break down in the third set and defeat loomed.
Just as at Wimbledon two years ago when an equally inspired Gasquet sped into a two-set lead, his game began to fray at the edges and eventually he blew himself out.
Murray had not done much wrong throughout the opening two sets and from the moment he broke Gasquet's previously impeccable serve for the first time to level the third set at 3-3 there looked to be only one winner.
Gasquet needed treatment after losing the third set, spitting out some pills in disgust and although he briefly threatened early in the fourth he had run out of firepower.
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