Murray rejoices as opponent blows a Gasquet

Andy Murray claims his French Open comeback against Richard Gasquet may have been even better than his Wimbledon turnaround against the Frenchman two years ago – because he had to do it all on his own.

History repeated itself yesterday when Murray came from two sets and a break down to avoid crashing out in the first round at Roland Garros.

As in their last meeting in the fourth round at SW19 almost two years ago, the infamously-fragile Gasquet suffered a spectacular collapse as fourth seed Murray won 4-6 6-7 (5/7) 6-4 6-2 6-1 in four hours and four minutes.

But unlike Wimbledon, where a fervent Centre Court roared the Scot onto victory, Murray had to beat Gasquet by himself, with those inside Suzanne Longlen Court very much rooting for his opponent.

“They did get behind him, as you would expect,” said fourth-seed Murray, who will face Argentinian Juan Ignacio Chela in round two.

“But I did feel like they were silent when I was hitting winners or playing good points. They do appreciate good tennis here, which is nice.

“It was a really good experience for me – especially when I was a long way behind – to come back.

“I obviously did it against him a few years ago at Wimbledon and the crowd helped; whereas, today, it was pretty much only yourself who’s got to get it back.”