Andy Murray is still in this French Open, but he had to fight to the very last point to see off the determined and unexpectedly artful challenge of the Czech veteran Radek Stepanek when they resumed their unfinished match on Court Philippe Chatrier on Tuesday.

The Scot won 3-6, 3-6, 6-0, 6-3, 7-5 and said courtside: “He had a serious back injury last year that kept him out for nine months. It’s unbelievable to be doing that at 37. I don’t think I will be doing that at that age.

“He’s always been extremely difficult to play. He was serving well, used a lot of drop shots. I had the momentum when we stopped yesterday but I knew anything could happen when we came out today.”

They resumed early afternoon in front of a crowd so sparse the players could pick out individual chat, as well as nearby public announcements. With the sun fighting to break through the clouds, it was not exactly a party atmosphere, and Murray’s tennis matched the mood before he warmed to the task.

Stepanek grabbed a couple of early break points, but could not cash in. Murray held with an ace for 5-2 and looked more settled. A twisting second serve sealed the set, and they went to the shootout.

Stepanek, whose 37-year-old legs began to creak on Monday evening, was up for the fight and roused the crowd after a delightful chip got him out of trouble at the end of a long rally at the start of the fifth set.

There was definitely a bit of needle between them, vestiges perhaps of their first meeting, when teenager Murray beat the even then veteran Stepanek in the second round at Wimbledon in 2005. They had played eight times since, Murray winning six of them, but neither could have anticipated the ninth contest would take them into the fifth set of a slam, with 127 ranking places and eight years in age between them.

The Czech was producing some wondrous winners, though, and the crowd, slowly growing, loved it. There was little in any of the exchanges as Murray played safe and deep in an effort to tame Stepanek, who tried to draw him on to the counter punch with drop shots and flat, hard crosscourt backhands. Nearly every rally was packed with quality and commitment, each success celebrated with fist-pumping and hard glances across the net.

When Murray held to love for parity in the sixth game, there was a sense that he was finally getting on top, but Stepanek hung on and stayed in front in the serving cycle, holding to love for 5-4.

Murray was now serving to stay in the tournament. The tension was as tight as the gut on his racket. Defending a second serve, he netted a backhand for 0-15. Again his first serve did not land in the box, but he drop-shotted for 15-all. An ace after a let took him to 30-15. He wasted a strong first serve with a sloppy forehand wide for 30-all. Stepanek’s backhand billowed the net for 40-30, but he punished a short return with a deft line shot for deuce. The Czech hit wide after a long rally that drew loud applause and Murray had game point again – and sealed it with an ace for five-all.

Stepanek, with nothing to lose and glory to behold, had fought admirably, but his concentration dipped in the 11th game, a double fault handing Murray two break points. He saved one at the net, but found the divider with a forehand, and Murray served for the match as the match time slipped past three and a half hours, and hour and 15 minutes of it in this second stanza.

It wasn’t a perfect kill, Murray hitting short a couple of times for 15-30, but another ace got him out of trouble and Stepanek handed him match point when he failed to hunt down a backhand. Murray, who courts drama as if it were oxygen, double-faulted for deuce – and nearly did so again, before Stepanek gift-wrapped it for him with a botched volley.

They embraced and spoke at the net. Maybe the acrimony has been buried because of their engagement in a wonderful contest. The audience, nearer to full than empty now, stood to applaud their exit.

Waiting for Murray is the 22-year-old French wildcard Mathias Bourgue, who took nearly three and half hours to beat the Spanish qualifier Jordi Samper-Montaña as well as cramp in three close sets on his Roland Garros debut on Monday. The world No164 will be grateful for the day’s interlude, perhaps, but will do well to take a set off a two-slam winner 162 places above him in the rankings, who has corrected a minor dip.

Earlier, in the less-charged surroundings of Court 14, Britain’s Aljaz Bedene beat the Austrian left-hander Gerald Melzer 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-4.