What a match! Mario Ancic - the lanky serve and volley merchant who has to rely on his physique to see him through on a surface really not suited to his game - against Tommy Robredo - the compact baseliner with a vast array of shots and an appetite for the kind of war of attrition often seen in Paris.

The Spanish No2 had recently beaten Ancic in straight sets on the way to the Hamburg title, but the Croat found the warmer conditions and a faster surface at Roland Garros to his liking on Sunday, winning a five-set epic 6-4 4-6 2-6 6-4 7-5, in a match which left both men exhausted and the crowd exhilarated.

Robredo earned himself a break point as early as game three, but squandered it with a smash way too long. In game four, it was his turn to save one, with an excellent forehand down the line. As you would expect, Ancic was playing his usual brand of high-risk tennis, racing to the net and making twice as many unforced errors as his opponent, including three in a row in game seven, but he nevertheless held service.

All of a sudden, the Spaniard faltered in game 10, with all of his backhands landing a fraction just the wrong side of the line, and Ancic amazingly broke him to love to take the first set 6-4. After nine games of a war of attrition, this was a strange conclusion to the first stanza.

Despite this early set-back, Robredo earned two break points in the third game of the second set with a pin-point backhand passing shot, and when Ancic sent a forehand just the wrong side of the line, the Spaniard had his first break of the match. The No7 seed then concentrated on serving out, which he did more than comfortably (other than another brief scare, again in the tenth game) and the match was level at one set apiece.

An interesting IBM statistic showed that when a rally went beyond three shots, Robredo was twice as likely to win the point. Ancic continued to bang down his enormous serves in excess of 200 km/h and as often as not, scamper to the net in an attempt to get the point over and done with as soon as possible, but provided that Robredo could put in a decently weighted service return, this ploy appeared doomed to failure in the long run.

During the changeovers, the Spaniard certainly seemed the fitter and fresher of the two players, quietly regaining his composure while Ancic would bury himself beneath a towel and a parasol, summoning up yet more reserves of energy to pursue his relentless serve and volley tactics.

In the third set, Robredo again broke Ancic's second service game, and with the Croat forced to take even more risks than usual, his service - usually his main weapon - began to look ragged, slipping down to 50 per cent. The Spaniard pounced on the second services to pick up another break, and cruised to a 2-1 lead.

The fourth set mirrored the first. Ancic rediscovered his rhythm on the serve and volley, pumping down four aces, with Robredo nevertheless occasionally getting the better of the lofty Croat with some well placed backhand lobs.

On the Spaniard's service, the baseliner was able to dictate the pace and send Ancic from one side of the court to the other. As in the first set, though, Robredo's calm inexplicably deserted him in the tenth game, and 'Super Mario' pounced on the one break point he needed to draw level and send the game into a fifth set.

Sets one and four had followed a similar pattern, with Robredo cracking in game ten, whilst sets two and three had seen Ancic lose his second service game, allowing the Spaniard to serve out the string. Set five, however, had more than a few surprises in store, and was perhaps the best illustration of what tennis fans would have been expecting from this match. True to form, Robredo broke to lead 2-1. Ancic wasn't about to take defeat lying down, however, and broke straight back. We had a game on our hands…

The match was taking its toll on the players, physically and mentally. On his next service game, the usually unflappable Spaniard served up a double fault to offer his Croatian opponent the luxury of three break points, and only one was required, with a net cord falling in favour of the No12 seed. Robredo fought back to lead 0-30 on Ancic's next service, and with the Croat then vomiting the water he had just drunk during the changeover, things were looking bleak. Digging deep into his reserves, he banged down an ace and went on to hold his serve and lead 5-2.

A limping Robredo took advantage of the short break to re-rake the clay to have a massage to loosen up a painful thigh muscle, then held his service comfortably. Over to Ancic, therefore, serving at 5-3 and with his destiny at last in his own hands. A 209 km/h ace was sandwiched in between four forehand errors, however, and Robredo was back in with a shout.

At 30-15 on Robredo's next service, Ancic pulled a thigh muscle, and the doctor was called back on in mid-game. The Croat returned to generous applause from the Philippe Chatrier crowd, and in the next game served out to 15 for a 6-5 lead.

The final game ebbed and flowed just like the match had. Robredo won two points on passing shots, Ancic won three at the net, including a deft drop volley to give him a match point. As Robredo served to save the match, Ancic again strode to the net, and finally secured victory with a crisp volley, before falling to his knees and kissing the hallowed clay, the crowd rising as one to acclaim both players.

And Ancic's next match? A quarter final date - tomorrow - most likely with No1 seed Roger Federer. Meagre reward for such a Herculean effort…