No one more in need of rest than Andy Murray

2:17 PM ET

PARIS — Since beating No. 1-ranked Novak Djokovic in the Rome final 10 days ago — one of his giddy high points in recent seasons — Andy Murray has suddenly found himself immersed in a tension convention.

Somehow, the No. 2 seed at the French Open contrived to lose the first two sets of his first-round match with 37-year-old Radek Stepanek. Murray rallied, of course, but in his news conference following the match, he challenged a L’Equipe story that attributed the departure of coach Amelie Mauresmo to his boorish on-court behavior.

That was Tuesday. On Wednesday, playing for the third straight day on Court Philippe Chatrier after a spate of rain, Murray ran into an en fuego French wild card named Mathias Bourgue — who was playing like that other Borg — Bjorn, a six-time champion here.

No player has won the French Open after being pushed to five sets in his first two matches since Gaston Gaudio in 2004. Ian MacNicol/Getty Images

And, get this: The 22-year-old had never, ever played a single ATP World Tour match until the first round, when he beat qualifier Jordi Samper-Montana. Naturally, Bourge (the No. 164-ranked player in the world) had most of the raucous capacity Chatrier crowd roaring with every splendid stroke.

This is kind of startling stuff that the French Tennis Federation dreams of when it hands out those wild cards.

Murray trailed two sets to one — another gaping hole — but eventually settled down to win 6-2, 2-6, 4-6, 6-2 6-3. It consumed a grinding 3 hours, 34 minutes, and felt longer.

“Yeah, I mean, today certainly wasn’t easy,” Murray said. “I mean, you know, I lost my way on the court today, you know, for quite a while.

“So to turn it around and find a way to win …

continue reading in source espn.go.com