LETHARGIC AT TIMES and brooding at others, Andy Murray worked his way into the French Open quarterfinals by coming back to beat Victor Troicki 4-6, 4-6, 6-3, 6-2, 7-5 this afternoon in a match that started a day earlier.

The three-time Grand Slam runner-up won the final five games of the fifth set despite injuring his right ankle in the previous round. The first four sets were played yesterday before darkness suspended the match.

Murray looked out of it in the opening two sets on Court Suzanne Lenglen, often pacing around the clay with his head low and sometimes screaming to no one in particular. But he soon started placing his shots and quickly worked his way back into the match before play was suspended.

When the match resumed this morning, the pair held serve until Troicki broke for a 4-2 lead shortly after a ball boy interfered with play on a point won by the 15th-seeded Serb. Troicki complained, but the point was replayed and Murray eventually took a 15-0 lead.

Two games later, Troicki was serving for the match. He took a 30-0 lead, putting him two points from victory, when Murray rallied again and broke back.

It is the fifth time in the 24-year-old Murray’s career that he has come back from two sets down to win. The fourth-seeded Briton is now 11-5 in five-set matches.

Later today, Roger Federer is set to face Gael Monfils for a spot in the semifinals. Also, defending women’s champion Francesca Schiavone is playing Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova of Russia.

– AP