Andy Murray came through a topsy-turvy encounter against French wildcard Jonathan Eysseric 6-2 1-6 4-6 6-0 6-2 to reach the French Open second round.

The 10th seed has been struggling on clay all season and appeared to be heading for a major upset at two-sets-to-one down.

But Murray won all six games in the fourth set to level and made the decisive break in the final set.

"It was difficult," said Murray. "I've never seen him play before and he served well and made it difficult for me.

"But I think I played better at the end of the match while he got a bit tired. That's normal because he's probably not played many five-set matches before."

There were a trio of breaks in the opening three games of the match on an overcast Court Suzanne Lenglen with Murray taking a 3-1 lead.

Eysseric's errors proved costly as the Scot broke him again at 5-2 and then comfortably served out the set.

But the French world 387 soon turned the tables, galloping to a 3-0 lead in the second before breaking a despondent Murray for a second time to level the match at one-set all.

Cheered on by a partisan crowd at Roland Garros, the 17-year-old took a 2-0 lead in the third and gathered a second break at 5-2 as the Murray mis-hits continued.

The world number 10 rescued one break and with the match delicately poised, both players took time out to gather their composure with Eysseric receiving treatment on his calves.

But the injury was not serious enough to prevent Eysseric serving out the set as the prospect of a five-set match loomed.

Eager to get on with the challenge ahead, Murray stepped up his game and rattled off a 6-0 whitewash to send the see-saw match into a decider.

A straightforward final set seemed unlikely and the pair again swapped breaks in the opening games.

Murray broke twice more for a 5-1 lead, but Eysseric refused to give in and broke back at 5-2, before the British number one returned the favour to close out the match.

The hard-fought encounter saw Murray earn his first victory at Roland Garros. He was knocked out in the first round in 2006 by Gael Monfils and pulled out last year because of a wrist injury.

Murray will face either Dominik Hrbaty or Jose Acaususo next.