Andy Murray Is Fighting Back At French Open Against Radek Stepanek

Andy Murray was digging deep to avoid a shock first-round loss to veteran Radek Stepanek when their French Open match was suspended because of bad light.World number two Murray, who beat Novak Djokovic to win the Italian Open in his last match, lost the first two sets to the 37-year-old Czech qualifier.The Briton won the third set and was ahead 4-2 in the fourth when the duo were called off at 20:22 BST.Stepanek leads 6-3 6-3 0-6 2-4, with the match resuming at 11:30 on Tuesday.Murray has not lost in the first round of a Grand Slam tournament since the 2008 Australian OpenMurray has recovered to win from two sets down eight times in his careerMurray was on the back foot from the start of the match, which began after 18:00 following a lengthy rain delay.The 29-year-old lost his serve in the third game of the first set and was broken again in the ninth as Stepanek, the oldest player in the draw, drew upon his vast experience.The second seed broke to love to start the second set but then immediately lost his own serve.Stepanek, ranked 127 in the world, then broke again at 4-3 to carve out a two-set lead.Murray, though, showed his resolve and raced through the third set in just 18 minutes as former world number eight Stepanek began to lose his way in the fading light.Stepanek, a Wimbledon quarter-finalist in 2006, seemed to be stalling for time and received a warning after taking a toilet break and then changing his shirt.It did not disrupt Murrays rhythm and the Scot, shouting encouragement to himself after almost every point, extended his run of games to nine before the Czech held his serve.The British number one was next to serve and seemed well placed to force a decider when play was called off for the evening.Murray is bidding to join fellow Britons Kyle Edmund and Heather Watson in the second round, while compatriots Johanna Konta, Laura Robson and Aljaz Bedene are due to start their campaigns on Tuesday.The post Andy Murray Is Fighting Back At French Open Against Radek Stepanek appeared first on Nigerian News from Leadership News.
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