Andy Murray is optimistic his back problems will continue to ease after putting the drama of Thursday behind him with an impressive straight-sets win over Santiago Giraldo in the third round of the French Open.
The odds on the world number four still being in the tournament today looked very slim when he struggled to such an extent against Jarkko Nieminen in round two that for much of the first set he was barely able to move.
A back spasm, unrelated to the ongoing problem that has troubled him since the end of last year, had struck on Thursday morning and it was only a combination of on-court treatment and some charitable play from Nieminen that enabled him to come through.
Colombian Giraldo fought for all he was worth today, but Murray's game was extremely solid in every department, and one break in each set proved good enough for a 6-3 6-4 6-4 victory.
Murray said: "I felt like I moved pretty well today. When you're playing in slams, I just think each day you need to take as it comes. And I felt much better than I did the other day. I felt better than I did yesterday.
"So I'm hoping that tomorrow I'll feel good again, and that's all you've got to do is each day just be a little bit better."
The Scot will need to be as close to 100% as possible, because things get much tougher from here, with supremely-talented Frenchman Richard Gasquet to come in round four and David Ferrer and Rafael Nadal waiting in the wings.
Murray has been having intensive physiotherapy and manipulation from his personal physio, Andy Ireland, but he opted against a pain-killing injection of any kind.
He said: "Guys often during tournaments have numbing shots, if they're just trying to get through a match and are deep in a tournament or whatever.
"But I didn't do that. We got a lot of advice, I saw the doctor here and spoke to him as well, and took all the right medication and did all the right treatments."
Murray's troubles caused an off-court storm after former Wimbledon champion Virginia Wade, now a television commentator, called him a drama queen, a charge the Scot firmly refuted.
Asked whether Wade had been in touch, Murray, who does his best to avoid controversy these days, said: "No, and I don't expect her to be either. That sort of stuff happens all the time.
"I don't hear what's getting said all the time, but then obviously if you get asked about it, it's nice to be able to answer and also give your opinion sometimes.
"Often when I do give my honest opinion on things, it becomes a huge story. So I try my best. But when it's something I'm quite passionate about, then I'm going to give my honest opinion on something, and I didn't think it was fair."
It was immediately obvious that Murray was in much better shape, the Scot beginning the match against world number 50 Giraldo with an ace.
The Colombian won only three games when they last met in Barcelona a few weeks ago but he is a talented player, particularly on clay.
Murray has a bit more to his game, though, and he was rewarded with the first break in the sixth game when he piled the pressure on.
The second set took on a similar pattern, this time the break coming in the fifth game, although Murray did have to save his only break point of the match when he served it out, Giraldo netting a backhand.
The Colombian began to go for broke in the third set, and often it worked, his forehand proving particularly dangerous, but it remained simply a matter of time until Murray broke again, which he did in the seventh game before taking his second match point with a backhand winner.
Assessing his performance, Murray said: "I served very well in the first set and that really helped. He started off hitting the ball well and I was able to get a lot of free points on my serve.
"Once I started to get into the match and got ahead of him, I started hitting the ball well and started dictating all the points.
"Then, in the third set, he just started going for huge shots and it was a bit frustrating, because it was pretty low-percentage tennis, but I was getting some break-point chances, getting into the games and couldn't quite break through."
