Great Britain’s Andy Murray is certainly making a meal of this year’s French Open. The second seed, who has never advanced past the semi-finals at Roland Garros has found himself digging really deep, just to get to the third round.

In the first round, he faced the qualifier, Radek Stepanek from Czechoslovakia, eight years his senior and ranked 128 in the world. The two had played against each other eight times before with Murray having won six of the matches and Stepanek two. Stepanek played some incredible tennis to win the first two sets and Murray managed to win the third set before rain stopped play on Day 1. The match resumed on Day 2 with Murray surviving two break points on his opening service game. He managed to win the fourth set and despite a valiant effort from Stepanek, Murray clawed his way back to win the fifth set and the match 3-6 3-6 6-0 6-3 7-5.

Murray’s second round opponent today was another unseeded player, Mathias Bourgue from France, ranked 164 in the world. As with his first round match, Murray was again flirting with disaster. The young Frenchman, who has not played more than three sets in a tournament this year, pushed Murray to the limit, much to the delight of the home crowd. He was hitting winners from all corners but in the end, experience and Murray’s ability to get himself out of a tight spot, saw him through and he clinched the match with a 6-2 2-6 4-6 6-2 6-3 win.

Murray is certainly going to need his rest tomorrow as his third round opponent is Ivo Karlovic from Croatia, ranked 28 in the world. Murray has advanced victorious in all six of their previous meetings but one has to wonder how much these two matches have taken out of him.