Andy Murray and defending champion Rafael Nadal both reached the third round at Roland Garros on Thursday, but their manner of going through could not have been more different.
The British fourth seed defeated Jarkko Nieminen 1-6, 6-4, 6-1, 6-2, but he had looked down and out in the first few games of the match as he struggled to shake off back spasms and pain in his left leg.
In stark contrast, Nadal took his record here to 47-1 with a straightforward 6-2, 6-2, 6-0 win over Denis Istomin.
Fifth seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga completed a 6-2, 4-6, 6-2, 6-1 win over qualifier Cedrik-Marcel Stebe in a match interrupted by rain late Wednesday, while sixth seed David Ferrer of Spain coasted past Benoit Paire of France 6-3, 6-3, 6-2.
Grimacing in pain and clutching his back and legs, Murray needed medical treatment three times in quick succession as grim-faced coach Ivan Lendl looked on.
But at a set and 4-2 down, Murray suddenly found a new lease of life and a run of seven games in a row in his favour gave him command.
“It was fine yesterday, went to bed and woke this morning and couldn't put weight on my left leg,” Murray said of his injury woes.
“At practice it was okay, not great, but okay. But we talked about not playing the match.”
“Right at the beginning of the match it wasn't too bad, then at the changeover at 3-0 it was really sore and I was struggling badly. Then, after an hour and a half, it started to feel a bit better so I just gritted my teeth. I was a few points from stopping in the middle of the second set.
“I just didn't really want to stop the match and he made some mistakes and it was his fault for letting me back in the match,” Murray said.
Murray, crediting his personal physiotherapist as “one of the best” said he would play on and was not afraid of jeopardising his chances for Wimbledon next month or the London Olympics in July and August.
“I'm going to try and carry on regardless, whether it's a bit sorer tomorrow or two days' time, I'm going to carry on,” he said.
Murray had to withdraw from the Madrid Masters earlier this month with a back injury but said Thursday's problem was a different, though possibly related, issue.
“It wasn't the same thing I had before,” he said.
“If it was the same thing, then I would be really, really concerned about Wimbledon and obviously the Olympics but so long as what I'm getting told by doctors and the physios is that it is just a muscle spasm then that's nothing to be overly concerned by.”
There was no such drama for Nadal.
His opponent, who had yet to get past the second round at Roland Garros struggled throughout to deal with the heavy top-spin barrage that Nadal fired his way.
Murray's next opponent in the third round will be Colombian Santiago Giraldo who defeated 25th seed Bernard Tomic 6-4, 6-1, 6-3.
Juan Monaco, the 13th seed, stopped Lukas Rosol of the Czech Republic 7-6(4), 6-0, 7-6(5) to go through into the third round.
Wozniacki advances
Caroline Wozniacki stayed on course for a showdown with Maria Sharapova in a quarter of the draw blown wide open by Serena Williams' shock exit.
Wozniacki, seeded ninth, breezed past Jarmila Gajdosova with a 6-1, 6-4 win.
Serena's stunning loss to France's Virginie Razzano on Tuesday has removed the most formidable obstacle preventing a quarter-final between Wozniacki and Sharapova.
Fourth seed Petra Kvitova coasted into the third round with a 6-1, 6-3 win over Poland's Urszula Radwanska. The Wimbledon champion, who only dropped three games in her opening win over Australian teenager Ashleigh Barty, needed just 70 minutes to win this one.
Defending champion Na Li reached third round with a 6-0, 6-2 win over Stephanie Foretz Gacon.
Li marches on
The seventh seeded Li, who last year became the first Asian player to win a Grand Slam singles title, needed just 52 minutes to advance. Foretz Gacon, the World No.86, won the first two points but that was as close as she came to victory as Li bagged the opening 10 games.
Foretz Gacon pulled a break back but the revival was short-lived.
On Wednesday, third seed Agnieszka Radwanska defeated Venus Williams 6-2, 6-3 in a late second-round match.
Sixth seeds Mahesh Bhupathi and Rohan Bopanna fell to a 1-6, 7-5, 6-3 loss to Marc Gicquel and Edouard Roger-Vasselin in the first round of the men's doubles.
