At the ongoing edition of the French Open, World No. 2 Andy Murray has already played 10 sets across the first two rounds. The two-time Grand Slam champion has been on court for seven hours over three consecutive days.
His efforts recall the heroics of Spain's Tommy Robredo at the 2013 edition of Roland Garros. The then 31-year-old became the first man since 1927 to win three straight matches from two sets to love down, before he was ousted by eventual runner-up David Ferrer.
Having spent so much time on court doesn't bode well for Murray, who is aiming to win his first Grand Slam in over three years. The French Open is often considered the most gruelling of the four majors. The ball is much slower off the courts and the bounce is relatively high, which means players have to face longer rallies and being aggressive does not work. That's one of the reasons why 14-time Grand Slam champion Pete Sampras could never win a title here.
A look at history
However, it's not all bad for Britain's No. 1. In 2004, Argentina's Gaston Gaudio played two straight five-set matches to open the tournament and was two-sets-to-love down in the final against Guillermo Coria, before going on to win his lone Grand Slam title. The 2004 edition of the French Open was also notable for being the last time that all four players in the semi-finals had never won a Grand Slam. The draw has become much more top heavy since then. In fact, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Murray win more than 40 per cent of their matches even after losing the first set.
Murray hasn't lost a five-set match against anyone apart from Djokovic in the last five years. Upsets are more common in the Masters tournaments, where there are only three sets. Over five sets, normally, class and experience trumps temporary form. That's another reason why women's tennis sees so many different champions because best-of-three sets leads to more unpredictable match-ups.
The long rallies at the French Open prevent upsets, but the same cannot be said of the US Open and Wimbledon. At these tournaments, courts play faster and the bounce can be unpredictable. It takes some time getting used to. In the early stages of these tournaments, if established players who haven't still found their groove come up against someone playing the match of their lives, they could easily be dumped out of the tournament.
Nadal has been on the receiving end of lower-ranked players playing the match of their lives at three Wimbledon Championships: in 2012, to Lukas Rosol in the second round; in 2013, to Steve Darcis in the opening round; and last year, to Dustin Brown in the second round. All three matches had common factors: the Spaniard came up against inspired opponents who played a more aggressive brand of tennis, often serving and volleying – factors that prevented Nadal from settling in and playing his game.
By contrast, he has only faced two five-set matches at Roland Garros. The first came against John Isner in 2010 in the first round and the other came against Novak Djokovic in the semi-finals of the 2013 edition.
In the ongoing edition, like Murray, defending champion Stanislas Wawrinka, too, had to outlast his opponent, Rosol, over five sets. But Wawrinka is known for being inconsistent and his form this year hasn't been too great. In spite of being the defending champion, he is not the considered the favourite to win the tournament.
However, court time doesn't deter anyone from winning the championship. On the way to his only French Open title in 2009, Roger Federer came back from two sets to love down against Tommy Haas in the fourth round and overcame Juan Martin Del Potro in five sets in the semi-finals, before eventually winning against Robin Soderling in straight sets.
In the two classic Australian Open finals in recent memory, Federer vs Nadal in 2009 and Djokovic vs Nadal in 2012, the eventual winners had come off an intense five-set match – Nadal in the former and Djokovic in the latter – against a relatively fresh opponent.
The upside
Longer time on court, especially early on in the tournament, gives players the opportunity to iron out flaws in their games, if any, and also familiarise themselves with the conditions and the surroundings. It's also a much needed confidence-boosting exercise to win a hard-fought encounter.
Although, there is a limit to this. After the marathon 11-hour-five-minute encounter between Nicholas Mahut and Isner in the 2010 Wimbledon, a visibly exhausted Isner was ousted in straight sets in the next round and withdrew from his doubles match, while Mahut was ousted in his doubles match in straight sets.
Inspite of winning his first title at the Rome Masters, Murray's form has been erratic at the French Open. Part of that could be attributed to the fact that at 29, Murray seems to have achieved everything that he could. Djokovic needs to win Roland Garros to complete his career slam. Nadal needs to win it to stay in contention at the majors.
And going ahead, the Scot has his work cut out for him. He will face big serving Ivo Karlovic in the third round, and could have an encounter with 15th seed John Isner in the fourth round. Neither player will let him rest easy. The good news for Murray? Neither player has beaten him or taken him to a fifth set.
