For the second time in as many matches Andy Murray has battled from the brink of defeat as he took three hours and thirty four minutes on court Phillipe Chatrier to beat the little known Frenchman Mathias Bourgue ranked a lowly 164th in the world. The second seeded Scott won 6-2, 2-6, 4-6, 6-2, 6-3. It came only a day after he completed a two set come from behind win over the veteran Radek Stepanek of the Czech Republic.

There were no such problems for the defending French Open champion Stanislas Wawrinka as the third seeded Swiss outlasted Taro Daniel of Japan 7-6(7), 6-3, 6-4. The sixth seeded Kei Nishikori though kept Japan’s hopes alive with a comprehensive 6-3, 6-3,  6-3 win over Andrey Kuznetsov.

It was a mixed day for France as the ninth seeded Richard Gasquet beat the American Bjorn Fratengelo 6-1,7-6(3), 6-3. Jeremy Chardy too won in straight sets against Adam Pavlasek of the Czech Republic. However the 19th seeded Benoit Paire was upset by the Russian Teymuraz Gabashvili in four sets, while the German sensation Alexander Zverev completed a four set win over the local lad Pierre Hughes Herbert.

The Croat Ivo Karlovic served 39 aces and hit a total of 101 winners against the 94th ranked Australian Jordan Thompson winning a marathon encounter 12-10 in the final set. The Spaniard Albert Ramos Vinolas beat the Argentine Marco Trungelliti, the conqueror of Marin Cilic of Croatia. The Australian Nick Kyrgios had another straight set win as he beat the Dutchman Igor Sijsling.

It was a good day for the Americans as the 15th seeded John Isner routed Kyle Edmund of England 6-4, 6-4, 6-4, while the 23rd seed Jack Sock beat the German Dustin Brown 6-3, 7-6(5), 6-2. In an all Serbian encounter Victor Troicki went through after Dusan Lajovic conceded trailing 1-2 in sets. There was a good win for the Spaniard Fernando Verdasco who beat the Croatian veteran Ivan Dodig in straight sets.

In late evening matches involving local interest the eighth seeded Milos Raonic was taken to a second set tie-break between two sets that he dominated, the Canadian beat the French left hander Adrian Mannarino 6-1, 7-6(0), 6-1. The fourteenth seeded Giles Simon rallied from a two set deficit to beat the Argentine Guido Pella in five sets. The 29th seeded Lucas Pouille was dumped by the Slovak Andrej Martin in straight sets.

Novak Djokovic (1) v. Steve Darcis
Aljaz Bedene v. Pablo Carreno Busts
Borna Coric v. Bernard Tomic (20)
Roberto Bautista Agut (14) v. Paul Henri Mathieu
David Ferrer (11) v. Juan Monaco
Feliciano Lopez (21) v. Victor Estrella Burgos
Pablo Cuevas (25) v. Quentin Halys
Tomas Berdych (7) v. Malek Jaziri
Rafael Nadal (4) v. Facundo Bagnis
Nicolas Mahut v. Marcel Granollers
Alexander Zverev v. Stepane Roberts
Dominic Thiem (13) v. Guillermo Garcia Lopez
David Goffin (12) v. Carlos Berlocq
Jiri Vesley v. Nicolas Almagro
Joao Sousa (26) v. Ernests Gulbis
Jo Wilfred Tsonga (8) v. Marcos Baghdatis

– Rasesh Mehta [Rasesh Mehta is an analyst with the Tennis Galaxy. You can reach him at the email: sportzcosmos@gmail.com]