PARIS (AP) – When Fabrice Santoro finally arose, covered with red clay, he sat on his chair and put a towel over his head, crying from the strain of 6 hours, 33 minutes on court – the most for a match in the Open era, which began in 1968.

Santoro beat another Frenchman, Arnaud Clement, 6-4, 6-3, 6-7 (5), 3-6, 16-14 in the first round of the French Open. The 71-game marathon actually was played over two days because darkness forced suspension Monday night at 5-all in the fifth set. The match beat the previous mark held by John McEnroe and Mats Wilander. who battled for 6:22 in a Davis Cup quarterfinal between the United States and Sweden in 1982. McEnroe won the 79-game slugfest 9-7, 6-2, 15-17, 3-6, 8-6.

“I don’t care (about the record). What do I get? A medal?” Clement said after his fourth first-round exit at Roland Garros in eight attempts.

“There may be an even longer match tomorrow,” he said. “I don’t play tennis to spend as much time possible on court.”

Santoro saved two match points -one on each day. The first came when serving at 4-5 in the fifth set late Monday evening. Then, facing a break point while trailing 14-13 Tuesday, Santoro frustrated Clement into a mistake – his opponent hurrying a winner into the net after a long rally marked by looping shots that bounced on the red dust.

“I came very close to defeat, it’s a miracle,” Santoro said. “I tried to stay relaxed on the important points and if it looked that way, then I did a good job because I was very tense.”

Santoro broke Clement to love to go up 15-14 but then trailed 0-40 when serving. With three break points to pull even, Clement froze: Two routine passing shots hit the net, a miscued lob sailed over Santoro and out.

“Depechez vous! (Hurry up!)” a voice cried from the crowd on Suzanne Lenglen Court.

No one laughed – especially not Santoro, who momentarily lost his concentration and had to steady himself again.

He smacked his 22nd ace of the match to set up victory, sealed by a passing shot while stretching at full speed.

“I decided I had to take a risk,” Santoro said, referring to his winner.

There was no poignant moment at the finish despite the valiant duel. No slap on the back at the net, no warm smile, no disbelieving shake of the head. Simply a polite handshake like strangers meeting for the first time.

“We could have fallen into each others arms, but we didn’t,” Santoro said. “Frankly, it could have been a longer handshake. But put yourself in Arnaud’s shoes. He’s bitterly disappointed.”

AP-ES-05-25-04 1412EDT