PARIS (Reuters) - Andy Murray needed all his steely resolve to beat the youngest man in the field at the French Open on Sunday, finally triumphing 6-2 1-6 4-6 6-0 6-2 against French wildcard Jonathan Eysseric.

The 10th seed, who faced a second straight grand slam first-round defeat, looked beguiled by the speed and angles of his 17-year-old opponent before finally crossing the finishing line in two hours and 44 minutes.

Murray, 21, was absent from last year's tournament due to a wrist injury and appeared to be cruising to his first win at Roland Garros when he wrapped up the opener in just 34 minutes.

But the French left-hander hit a succession of blistering winners to lift the home crowd and level the match and he looked on the cusp of a shock when he clinched the third set 6-4 despite relinquishing a 5-1 lead.

But Murray then reeled off 12 of the next 14 games against the tiring teenager to book a second-round encounter with either Slovakia's Dominik Hrbaty or Jose Acasuso of Argentina.

(Writing by Miles Evans; Editing by John Mehaffey)