Murray breezes through but Nadal struggles

But five-time French Open champion Rafael Nadal again looked unconvincing as he booked a place in the third round with a straight-sets win over fellow Spaniard Pablo Andujar.

Italian lucky loser Bolelli served for both the first and third sets but Murray showed his fighting qualities to battle back and secure a 7-6 (7/3) 6-4 7-5 victory on Court Philippe Chatrier.

The wind was the main talking point at Roland Garros and the world No 4 was well aware of the danger it posed after watching women’s No 2 seed Kim Clijsters crash out before him – 3-6 7-5 6-1 to Arantxa Rus.

Murray said: “You just have to try to win and not worry about how you hit the ball or anything else.

“I was happy with the way I fought and came back from two very difficult situations in the first and third sets when he was serving for it, and hung in well when I needed to.

“In the third set I had 3-3, 0-40 on his serve. I didn’t get it. I got broken the next game and managed to fight my way back and win the set.

“So I’m not worried about how I was hitting the ball because I’ve seen some of the matches and everyone is struggling.”

Of the specific problems caused by the wind, he added: “I think the toughest thing for tennis players is when the wind is not consistent. It was swirling the whole time. It was changing during the rallies. It was really, really tricky.”

An opponent ranked 126th in the world who lost in the final round of qualifying did not look too daunting on paper but Bolelli was in the top 40 two years ago and is no mug, particularly on clay.

He began in impressive fashion, troubling Murray with huge forehands, and the Scot had to come from a break down twice to stay in contention.

He then missed two set points on Bolelli’s serve but was not made to regret that in a tie-break he dominated.

Murray broke immediately at the start of the second set but struggled with the wind on his serve, hitting seven double-faults, and quickly found himself back on level terms.

Another break in the seventh game proved crucial but in the decider he missed a great chance to move 5-3 ahead and was then promptly broken.

Bolelli did not show the best judgment when serving in important games, though, and again he could not cement his advantage. A second straight break proved curtains for the Italian, but Murray was quick to praise his opponent after the match.

Champion Nadal recovered from two sets to one down to beat John Isner in round one, having not dropped a single set in his 2010 triumph, and he was similarly lacklustre in his 7-5 6-3 7-6 (7/4) victory yesterday, having to save eight set points in the final set.

Nadal seized the initiative on Court Suzanne Lenglen by racing into a 0-40 lead in game six and broke Andujar, a winner on clay in Casablanca earlier this season, at the first attempt but he was far from his usual ruthless self again as his opponent broke straight back to even up the set.

A third break of serve came as Nadal won game eight and Andujar then saved a set-point chance for Nadal in the next game before breaking to make it 5-4.

Andujar looked on course for a tie-break at least but a series of unforced errors allowed Nadal to win game 12 to love.

The second set seemed destined to follow a similar pattern to the first as Andujar broke back immediately after Nadal had taken a 2-0 lead. The set went with serve until Nadal claimed a crucial breakthrough on the Andujar serve in the eighth game. Again, Nadal almost tossed it away as Andujar earned himself three break points.

Solid serves from Nadal saved the first two and on the third Andujar fired a forehand into the net. That gave Nadal set point and though he squandered the first one, Andujar handed him the set on a plate with a wild forehand at the second attempt.

Nadal went long with a sliced backhand which would have enabled him to kick off the third set with a break as Andujar held in a 13-minute game.

The first break of the set went Andujar’s way and he consolidated it on his own serve before breaking again to open a four-game advantage.

Nadal dug deep, saving four set points in game seven of the third set to get one break back. In a bizarre third set, Andujar saw seven set points slip away and Nadal managed to hold when Andujar’s drop shot fell short.

Nadal levelled the match by breaking in the ninth game, drilling a forehand winner down the line and survived an eighth set point on his own serve before a crosscourt winner made it 5-5.

Andujar held at deuce and Nadal set up the tie-break, where a dreadful forehand drop shot presented the nine-time grand slam winner with match point which he duly took to set up a third-round meeting with either 28th seed Nikolay Davydenko or Croatian Antonio Veic.

World No 8 Maria Sharapova fought back from a set and two breaks down in her second-round match before beating teenager Caroline Garcia 3-6 6-4 6-0.