Andy Murray survives his two day match

Murray survives epic final set to reach last 16

Andy Murray found his second wind to finally get the better of Philipp Kohlschreiber, needing 40 minutes on Sunday to complete a 3-6 6-3 6-3 4-6 12-10 win and reach the French Open fourth round.

The match was suspended at 7-7 in the fifth set on Saturday because of fading light.

Murray crouched down and clenched both fists after hitting a two-handed backhand winner on Kohlschreiber's second serve with the score at 15-40 in the 22nd game.

"I was cramping yesterday. My muscles were obviously fatigued," Murray said. "I actually woke up [feeling] okay ... the nice thing about this surface, compared with the hard court, is when you have a tough match on the hard courts you wake up the next day and your hips are sore, your knees are sore."

Marathon man Murray faces clay-court veteran

After his two-day epic against Philipp Kohlschreiber, will Andy Murray have enough left in the tank against Fernando Verdasco in the Round of 16?

Verdasco, the 24th seed here, also survived a five-set scare of his own against Pablo Cuevas in the second round where he dug out of a two-sets-to-love hole against the Uruguayan. Amazingly, it was the 33rd five-setter of his career and his 17th win over the distance – more than Murray (16-6) and also Rafael Nadal (16-5). The Spaniard’s third round was a more routine 1 hour and 58 minutes against Richard Gasquet, although that too was also carried over to Sunday.

Verdasco had failed to win more than two matches in a row at seven of the nine events he had entered in 2014 prior to coming to Paris. The lone bright spots came at the ATP 1000 event in Miami where he made the fourth round and the 250 event in Houston which he won, defeating compatriot Nicolas Almagro in the final.

Murray’s 2014 on the other hand has been one long return from the back surgery he had in late 2013, but he has nevertheless compiled a 24-9 record with nine wins on clay (three in the Davis Cup). He played Rafael Nadal tough in the quarters of Rome, winning the first set 6-1 and leading in the third before the Majorcan came back to win 7-5.

Murray is a commanding 9-1 against Verdasco, though the two have never met on clay. The man from Madrid will be looking to make Murray run during this one...and maybe push it to a familiar fifth set.

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