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British number one Andy Murray battled back from two sets down to beat Richard Gasquet in the first round of the French Open.
Gasquet proved every bit as tough an opening opponent as predicted but as the Frenchman tired, the Scot got stronger, sealing a 4-6 6-7 (5-7) 6-4 6-2 6-1 victory in four hours and four minutes.
Murray must now recover sufficiently to take on old foe Juan Igancio Chela of Argentina in the second round, but the manner of his win on Court Suzanne Lenglen should aid the recovery process.
The last time he and Gasquet had met, at Wimbledon two years ago, Murray recovered a two-set deficit with the backing of a vocal Centre Court crowd.
Gasquet had home advantage this time and the spectators on a sunbathed Lenglen court were in holiday mood, and quick to get up chants of "Richard, Richard" when their man obliged with a flurry of winners off his brilliant backhand.
The Frenchman had arrived in Paris on the back of a 10-match unbeaten run on clay and he picked up where he had left off when beating world number nine Fernando Verdasco in Nice on Saturday.
Three break points went begging as early as game four, one wasted with a poor drop shot, but when Gasquet fended off a break point himself with an ace in game seven and followed up with a gorgeous backhand down the line it was clear he was the man in charge.
Murray cut a frustrated figure for much of the opening set and a poor volley and a double-fault saw him facing set point in game 10 - at which point he chose to serve-volley for the first time in the match, the volley ending up in the net.
Gasquet had the first opportunity in the second set but played a bizarre forehand slice that floated long at break point in game four, while Murray could only watch as yet another blistering backhand flew past him when the Scot had his chance in the following game.
Murray's frustration with himself deepened considerably when he double-faulted to hand Gasquet break point in game five but he got out of trouble with a succession of rasping forehands.
Gasquet retained the initiative, however, and came desperately close to a two-set lead when a running forehand pass went just long on set point at 6-5, but after twice letting two-point leads slip in the ensuing tie-break he wrapped it up with a cross-court forehand and a sharp half-volley. Victory was now in sight for the world number 68, but things are rarely straightforward for the man who has never made it past the third round in Paris, and pre-match concerns about his ability to last the pace in a best-of-five-set match came to the fore in a scrappy third set.
The pair swapped breaks in games five and six before a tiring Gasquet double-faulted at break point in game eight, and the Frenchman's immediate break back would prove his last moment of real defiance in the match.
An errant smash handed Murray set point in game 10 and the Briton took his chance to get a foothold in the match for the first time, after two minutes shy of three hours on court.
Gasquet required treatment at both the start and end of a fourth set that would not be such a battle - Murray rattling through it in half an hour with two breaks as the Gasquet backhands began to miss their target, while the physically stronger Briton started to dictate matters from inside the baseline.
There was to be one final glimmer of hope for the local favourite when he earned a break point early in the final set, but Murray slammed the door shut with a heavy serve and then broke for 3-1, thanks in part to a drop shot that verged on the cruel against an opponent struggling to move.
Gasquet's earlier backhand winners were a distant memory now and when he dumped his favourite shot into the middle of the net to hand over the double-break, the game was up.
Murray served out to love, sealing the win with an ace before batting away a few balls into a crowd that was almost as exhausted as the two players.This article is from the BBC News website. ? British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.