Frustrated Murray cruises as Nadal stretched

World No 4 Murray conceded his 6-4 6-1 6-3 victory over qualifier Eric Prodon had been a frustrating experience.

The Scot has played five-setters first up on three of his four previous visits to Roland Garros, including 12 months ago, when he came from two sets down to beat Richard Gasquet.

Prodon, ranked 124th in the world, is certainly not in Gasquet’s class and, in truth, he did not really threaten even to take a set off Murray but the 29-year-old’s unpredictability left his opponent dissatisfied.

He said: “It was a tough match. There was no rhythm really to the match. He didn’t want to have any long rallies so he was hitting a lot of drop shots and going for his shots. He’d change the rhythm or change the pace of the ball a lot.

“I was annoyed with the way I was moving. I was hitting the ball well from the back of the court, especially towards the end of the match, and I served well, but I didn’t move particularly well.”

Prodon has played nearly all his tennis on clay at Futures and Challenger level, where he has enjoyed so much success that he is known as the ‘Roger Federer of the Futures’.

Murray’s only previous sighting of the Frenchman came at a tournament in Edinburgh in 2004, and he relied on best friend Dani Vallverdu for information about Prodon.

The fourth seed, who confirmed he will definitely play in Great Britain’s Davis Cup tie against Luxembourg in July, said: “Dani knows a lot of the South American players who had seen him from Challengers and got some pretty good tactics.

“I was told going in he’s very unpredictable. That’s why it was a difficult match and just a quite frustrating one to play, because even though I was in front, all of the points were just really scrappy until the end when I went behind.”

Murray, who winced when he was introduced as “l’Anglais” on Court Suzanne Lenglen, had his serve broken twice in the match – once when he was serving for the opening set and once to trail 3-1 in the decider.

Both times Prodon betrayed his lack of big-match experience with poor games to hand the initiative straight back, and Murray needed no second invitation to set up a second-round encounter with another qualifier, Italian Simone Bolelli, tomorrow.

Prodon consulted the doctor at various times during the match and he revealed afterwards that, as well as struggling with ongoing abdominal pain, he was also suffering from suspected gastroenteritis.

The Frenchman said: “It’s a miracle that I finished the match and played three sets with nothing in my stomach since last night. Of course it is frustrating.”

Prodon felt his unfamiliarity was an advantage at the start of the match but he conceded he could not find the consistency to exploit Murray’s lapses.

Defending champion Nadal, who did not lose a set on his way to the title in 2010, found himself 2-1 down after big-serving American Isner held his nerve to clinch back-to-back tie-breaks.

Nadal avoided the shock of all shocks, however, by winning 6-4 6-7 (2/7) 6-7 (2/7) 6-2 6-4.

The top seed and five-time champion has only lost one match at Roland Garros, against Robin Soderling in 2009, and this four-hour encounter was the first time he has played a five-set match on the Paris clay.

Nadal celebrated his victory with a leap of delight and then paid tribute to Isner, saying: “He was a very, very tough opponent, I want to congratulate him for this fantastic match and wish him all the best for the rest of the season.

“It is always very close against John. With his serve you play under pressure all the time and in the tie-breaks I didn’t play very well, perhaps because I was too nervous.”

He added: “It is important to have these tough moments, but I prefer to win in three sets, for sure.”

Isner, of course, is famous for his epic 11-hour victory over Nicolas Mahut at Wimbledon last year but four hours against Nadal on clay proved just too much for the 6ft 9ins American.

The Spaniard looked in control when he moved a set and a break up but he was certainly short of his best and Isner capitalised, levelling and then dominating two tie-breaks to move within sight of a stunning upset.

No defending men’s champion has lost in the first round at Roland Garros and the idea it could be Nadal was almost unthinkable.

In the end, that record remained intact as the world No 1 responded like a champion to set up a second-round meeting with compatriot Pablo Andujar.

Isner said: “I had a feeling if I just gave it my all out there I could give it a good shot and maybe even win the match.

“Really what it came down to is the way he played in the fourth and fifth sets. I haven’t seen tennis like that ever. That’s why he’s number one in the world and one of the greatest players ever.”