Paris Open
Andy Murray fights back to beat Mathias Bourgue in Paris
World number two Andy Murray fought back from two sets to one down against local wildcard Mathias Bourgue to win in five sets.
Andy Murray managed to avoid a huge second-round upset at the French Open on Wednesday as he came back from being two sets to 1 one down to overcome 164th-ranked local wildcard Mathias Bourgue 6-2, 2-6, 4-6, 6-2, 6-3. Scot Murray, who managed to come back from being two sets to love down to defeat Radek Stepanek in the first round, looked set to record a routine victory after sweeping to the opening set against Bourgue dropping just two games.
Bourgue stunned Scot Murray
But Bourgue took the world number two completely by surprise to claim the next two sets on the Philippe Chatrier Court to leave Murray teetering on the brink of his earliest Grand Slam exit since 2008.
However, the Scottish two-time major champion responded in the fourth to force a final deciding set, and Murray completed a second straight five-set win to take his place in the last 32.
Bourgue started "playing unbelievably"
"I had 6-2, 2-0 and he started playing unbelievably and I started to find it hard to win points, not just games," said Murray, who struggled but retained his record of having never lost to player outside the top 100 at a Grand Slam.
"He was excellent. He was the one dictating a lot of the points and making me run a lot," the Scot said of Bourgue, who had never won a Tour-level match prior to arriving at Roland Garros.
"I just tried to fight through until the end. I need to go and rest, it's been a tough few days. To go far in the tournament you can't play too many matches like this."
Few signs of danger for Murray
There were few signs of imminent danger for Murray when he broke Bourgue twice to grab the opening set, and the Scot then forged 2-0 ahead in the second.
But few could have predicted what lay ahead, as Bourgue, who had never previously even faced a player ranked inside the top 50, seized the next six games. At one point he won 16 straight points to leave Murray bemused, befuddled and bewildered.
Roared on by a vocal home crowd on the main showcourt, Bourgue continued to dominate with a fourth consecutive break of Murray's serve to open the third set.
Murray finally comes back
Murray finally snapped a run of eight games in a row for the Frenchman, but Bourgue displayed remarkable composure to make the early break stick and move within one set of a stunning upset.
The world number two refused to wilt though and secured a crucial break at 2-1 in the fourth to send the contest into a fifth set.
And Murray completed another dramatic five-set win, but not before needing two attempts to serve it out in the decider.
Murray, a three-time Roland Garros semi-finalist, goes on to play veteran big-serving Croat Ivo Karlovic for a spot in the last 16.