Paris: Andy Murray, seeded second, came through 6-2, 2-6, 4-6, 6-2, 6-3 on Wednesday against Mathias Bourgue, a 22-year-old French player ranked 164th with a wild card to play his first Grand Slam tournament. The second-round win came just a day after Murray completed another five-setter in the first round.
"I need to go and rest. It's been a tough, tough few days," the 2013 Wimbledon champion said. "If I'm to go far in this tournament, you can't play too many matches like this."
The last champion at Roland Garros to win rounds one and two in five sets was Gaston Gaudio, in 2004.
One small consolation: Defending champion Stan Wawrinka isn't firing on all cylinders, either.
Following a five-set win in the first round, Wawrinka again wasn't convincing in the second round, with a 7-6 (7), 6-3, 6-4 victory over Taro Daniel of Japan.
Most notable were the break points which the third-seeded Swiss player failed to convert against a player 89 spots below him in the rankings. Daniel had stalled in the first round last year, when Wawrinka rode his sublime backhand to the final and won in his now infamous shorts against Novak Djokovic.
Wawrinka had 17 opportunities to break the Japanese right-hander, and seized only four of them.
"I created a lot of chances. I can't remember how many break points I had, but far too many if you look at what I did with them. The most important is to win, even more in three sets," Wawrinka said. "Hopefully I will play better and better to go as far as possible. Today there were many ups and downs, but I have my tennis and I'm ready to step it up."
Fifth-seeded Kei Nishikori is already in gear. The 2014 U.S. Open finalist broke Andrey Kuznetsov of Russia six times and saved seven break points in a 6-3, 6-3, 6-3 win.
Nishikori has spent less than four hours in two straight-set wins on the tiring red-clay courts to advance to the third round; Wawrinka has accumulated more than five hours, and Murray more than seven.
"Of course it's preferable to win a match in three sets, but when I enter the court, it's not the one thing I'm obsessed about, winning three sets to save energy," Wawrinka said. "Matches are difficult. I'm there to win."
Another Japanese player also is impressing. Still 18 and playing in only her second major tournament, Naomi Osaka also has yet to drop a set. After beating 32nd-seeded Jelena Ostapenko in the first round, she advanced to the third round by beating Mirjana Lucic-Baroni 6-3, 6-3.
Osaka also reached the third round in her first Grand Slam tournament, this year's Australian Open. She next plays 2014 French Open finalist Simona Halep. The sixth-seeded Romanian rallied from 4-1 down in the first set to beat Zarina Diyas 7-6 (5), 6-2.
Halep, who struggled with her serve, is bracing for a tough test from Osaka.
"She's a young player and she has nothing to lose," she said.
With third-ranked Angelique Kerber and fifth-ranked Victoria Azarenka both falling in the first round, Garbine Muguruza has a path through the women's draw.
Ranked fourth, the 2015 Wimbledon finalist won 6-2, 6-0 against Myrtille Georges, a French wild-card entry. Her next opponent, 54th-ranked Yanina Wickmayer, failed to advance beyond the third round in two previous attempts.
Two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova and 2009 French Open winner Svetlana Kuznetsova also advanced in straight sets.
"It's interesting, because when you look at the recent tournaments, things have been very erratic and unpredictable," Muguruza said. "I don't think it's like the men where when you play Djokovic you know you're going to lose. It's not the same thing in women's singles at all."
One of a Grand Slam-record 51 players age 30 and over who started in the men's main draw, Ivo Karlovic became — at 37 — the oldest man to reach the third round at a major since Jimmy Connors at the 1991 U.S. Open.
"It's the only time when being old is OK," Karlovic said.
The 27th-seeded Croatian served 41 aces in a 6-7 (2), 6-3, 7-6 (3), 6-7 (4), 12-10 win over Australian wild-card entry Jordan Thompson.
They played for 4 hours, 31 minutes — four times what it took for Nick Kyrgios, the 17th-seeded player from Australia, to beat Igor Sijsling 6-3, 6-2, 6-1.
Karlovic next plays Murray.
