Andy Murray will have to dig deep into his physical and mental reserves on Monday as he tries to reach the quarter-finals of the French Open. Having survived a tension-filled battle with Philipp Kohlschreiber, spread over two days, to take his place in the last 16, he now plays Fernando Verdasco, the Spaniard who almost ended his Wimbledon dreams last summer.
Eight months on from back surgery, Murray edged out the 24th-ranked Kohlschreiber 3-6, 6-3, 6-3, 4-6, 12-10 on a day when Roger Federer suffered a shock defeat by Ernests Gulbis in five sets.
Murray resumed at 7-7 with Kohlschreiber in the final set on Sunday, after a restless night in which the Scot had “only five hours’ sleep”, and wrapped things up in 40 minutes. At three hours 24 minutes it was not the longest match of his career but it is the deepest he had ever gone in a fifth set and, having cramped the previous evening, he knows he will have to recover quickly if he is to get past Verdasco.
“It was a mentally draining match,” Murray said. “It was the first five-set match I played since my surgery and last night I was struggling physically. I was cramping towards the end of the fourth set and for quite a lot of the fifth set. Then today I felt pretty good but there was quite a lot of tension and you were kind of willing and urging the balls to go out and then they drop in. It was a nervy, tentative 40 minutes. It’s not easy and I’m just glad I managed to get through.”
Murray, having needed treatment to both legs the previous night, said he was not sure how he would react when he comes out to play Verdasco, the man who led him by two sets to love in their quarter-final at Wimbledon before Murray came back for victory. A fast start will be important but Murray said he would not underestimate Verdasco’s ability.
“He’s the sort of guy who has the firepower to take the play away from you a bit,” Murray said. “He can dictate the match because of the way he plays and the amount of power he can generate. I’ll need to try to keep the ball away from the dangerous areas of the courts – the places where he’s most comfortable – and hopefully make it tough for him.”
Murray has now reached the last 16 of the French Open in his past five visits, no mean achievement. “I’ve had decent results here,” he said. “It’s not been as good as guys like Rafa and obviously Novak and Roger but I feel like I have done a decent job. I feel like I can play good clay-court tennis. But to win this event, you need to play great clay-court tennis. That’s something I haven’t done yet.”
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