Frustrated Murray sees off Chela amid the Parisian rain
ANDY MURRAY feared his rain-affected second round clash would go into a third day before he finally got the better of Juan Ignacio Chela and the Paris weather to waltz into the third round of the French Open.
Frustrated Murray was forced to resume his match midway through yesterday and survived the loss of the second set to eventually come through 6-2, 6-7 (5-7), 6-3, 6-2 amid the gloom at Roland Garros.
“It got dark quickly today and at the end of the match I was lucky I managed to get another break,” said the British No1. “Because I think, at max, we would have had two games left.”
He added: “It was a good experience for me, one that I could have dealt with maybe a little bit better.”
Murray now takes on Cypriot world No25 Marcos Baghdatis in round three – a player he is yet to beat in their two previous encounters – the last being in 2007.
“He’s a very talented player. He’s tough to play and he’s a great shot-maker,” the Scot added. “I’ve seen him play a lot of matches. He’s very entertaining to watch. It’s going to be tricky.”
Elsewhere, sixth seed Andy Roddick saw his infamous serve broken seven times before eventually coming through 6-3, 5-,7 6-4, 6-2 against Slovenian Blaz Kavcic.
Fellow American John Isner is also through after beating Switzerland’s Marco Chiudinelli in four sets.
In the women’s, fourth seed Jelena Jankovic was made to work to see off Estonia’s Kaia Kanepi 6-2, 3-6, 6-4, while Russian fifth seed Elena Dementieva was similarly tested by Anabel Medina Garrigues before coming through 6-2, 7-6 (7-3).
Former champion and world No1 Ana Ivanovic crashed out 6-3, 6-0 to Russian Alisa Kleybanova.