Murray remains 40-1 for Paris glory despite injury

ANDY MURRAY won a tougher-than-expected second-round battle against Jarkko Nieminen at Roland Garros on Thursday but there are increasing concerns about whether he can come out on top in his fight against injury.

The Scot called for the trainer three times before he dropped the
first set against 8-1 shot Nieminen and when he was a break down in
the second an upset looked a strong possibility.

Murray fought back - as much the beneficiary of poor play from his
opponent as from an improvement in his own game - but even though he eventually prevailed to set up a clash with Santiago Giraldo, his
participation in the rest of the French Open remains in doubt.

Even so, bookmakers didn't seem unduly worried by Murray's troubles and failed to lengthen his odds - he was unchanged at 40-1.

He claims the back problem is not a recurrence of the injury which
forced him out of the Madrid Masters and said it appeared to just be a
muscle spasm.

Rafael Nadal dropped only four games as he obliterated Denis Istomin in a confident straight-sets triumph. The Majorcan man mountain will face Eduardo Schwank next.

Caroline Wozniacki was cut after a straightforward victory over
Jarmila Gajdosova.

Defending champion Na Li was even more emphatic and dispatched
Stephanie Foretz Gacon with little difficulty.