Tennis: Murray survives injury scare at French Open
Andy Murray overcame crippling back pain to battle his way past Jarkko Nieminen into the third round of the French Open on Thursday.
The British fourth seed defeated the Finn 1-6, 6-4, 6-1, 6-2 but he had looked down and out in the first few games of the match as the lower back strain that he has been struggling with all year struck again.
Grimacing in pain, Murray needed medical treatment three times in quick succession as grim-faced coach Ivan Lendl looked on.
But at a set and 4-2 down, Murray suddenly found a new lease of life and a run of seven games in a row in his favour gave him command.
In what was the first match up on the Philippe Chatrier centre court, Murray looked stiff and concerned from the start as the unseeded Niemenen jumped out into a 3-0 lead.
The Scot then looked in distinct pain in his next service game, barely getting his serve over the net and staying rooted to the spot in the brief exchanges.
He called for medical help to ease the discomfort in his lower back at the turnover and resumed play.
Against the odds he managed to get one of the breaks back but following further treatment he again served at half pace to fall 5-1 down.
Niemenen wrapped up the set 6-1 after which the doctor came on once again to administer stretching exercises to a prone Murray.
It looked a matter of time before Murray called it a day, but instead he battled on and gradually, as the pain eased, he started to find his movement and with that his firepower.
From 2-4 down he won four games in a row, breaking to love at 5-4 to draw level on sets.
The Murray serve was still well short of full power, but he opened the third set with another love game as Nieminen struggled to blunt the Scot's stunning revival.
Murray moved 3-0 up before Nieminen stopped the rot, but the die was cast and the fourth seed accelerated away to keep alive his hopes of reaching the semi-finals of a Grand Slam tournament for the sixth straight time.
Murray will next play Santiago Giraldo of Colombia who ousted 25th-seeded Australian Bernard Tomic 6-4, 6-1, 6-3.
Ahram Online
Video
Spot Lights
AFPTurkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan rallies supporters after riot police again clash with thousands of anti-government demonstrators in a second week of nationwide unrest.Three people have died in the protests against Erdogan and his Islamic-leaning Justice and Development Party (AKP), in power since 2002.Following are the main events of the past days:- May 28: A peaceful local protest
AFPTurkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is facing one of the biggest challenges of his decade in power with anti-government protests that critics say have exposed growing discontent with his increasingly authoritarian and conservative agenda.Here are the key events since Erdogan's Islamist-rooted Justice and Development Party (AKP) assumed power in the predominantly Muslim but staunchly
AHRAM ONLINEFounders of Egypt’s 'Rebel' campaign, a newly established movement that aims to withdraw confidence from President Mohamed Morsi by collecting citizens' signatures, spoke at an open forum on Wednesday to discuss the campaign, which has recently gone viral online and on the streets.'Rebel' campaigners hope to collect 15 million signatures and hold a mass sit-in on 30 June –
BBC SportWhen it's put to him that he might be the most talented athlete in the world to hold a racquet, a bashful Ramy Ashour admits "that's pretty great".The 25-year-old Egyptian is more than just the current squash world number one - his elastic, unorthodox brilliance and charisma could be the key to squash breaking out beyond its four walls and regaining a place on the wider sporting
