Published>Tue, May 25 10 04:28 AM
Andy Murray produced another escape act to keep his French Open hopes alive on Monday, battling past a resurgent Richard Gasquet and a painful right knee for four hours to take his place in the second round.
The 23-year-old fourth seed was given a grilling for two sets as Gasquet rained down dashing winners but he dug deep to silence a partisan crowd on Suzanne Lenglen and complete a 4-6 6-7 6-4 6-2 6-1 victory -- the fourth time in his career that he has overturned a two-set deficit.
Not a bad effort for player who was often seen wincing with pain after long rallies, a legacy of a kneecap problem dating back to his teenage years.
"My knee is sore," Murray, who now looks to have a favourable draw after a second successive victory over Gasquet from two sets down, told reporters.
"A four-hour match probably wasn't the best thing for it when it's been sore the last few days.
"I just gotta do my best to try and make it better for the next round. I mean, everyone has their problems Everyone has different issues. It's very hard in an individual sport, especially one like this, to play a four-our matches, five-set matches in that heat."
Murray said he is used to managing his knee, a condition that will probably remain throughout his career.
"My knee hurts. But I've just got to try and manage it. It hurts at different parts of the year. I can't do anything about it. It's just something I was born with, and just gonna have to deal with for my whole career.
"It's a lot worse than people think. It hurts the majority of the year, but it's a lot easier mentally than when other things are sore, because I've had it since I was 16."
Murray, a quarter-finalist last year, faces claycourt grinder Juan Ignacio Chela in the second round hoping for a slightly less arduous test that the one posed by Gasquet.
"You can't play that many five set matches," he said. "So I hope in the next round, if I play well I can come through a bit quicker because it's important.
"If you want to play well here you have to conserve some energy."
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