AN ANGRY Andy Murray walked off Court One at Roland Garros yesterday despite taking a one-set lead over Juan Ignacio Chela in his French Open second-round match.

Play was suspended until today due to bad light at just after 9.30pm local time, with Murray leading 6-3 3-3 and seemingly keen to play on.

But Chela was not so eager and won the battle of wills when tournament officials called a halt to proceedings, much to Murray's annoyance.

A succession of rain delays on day four meant the contest did not begin on Court One until 8.07pm local time and there was never any real prospect of it finishing last night.

Murray admitted after Monday's epic win over Richard Gasquet that, with his congenital knee problem giving him grief, another five-setter could kill off his tournament hopes.

So in one respect, the prospect of playing his match with Chela in two parts might have appealed to the Scot, especially in light of his record against the Argentinian.

Murray had won their last five meetings without dropping a set, including at this month's Madrid Masters and in the first round at Roland Garros last year.

However, a quick match did not appear to be the order of the day in a start which saw a succession of gruelling rallies and both players forced to save break points in their opening service games.

Murray wasted his chance after coming back from 40-15 down, while Chela missed two in the next game.

But the Scot, who began with a number of errors on the backhand side, made no mistake in game three, breaking to 15.

The long exchanges continued as Murray held before securing a double-break in game five, his drop shot proving particularly useful in setting him up for winners.

The drop shot itself provided a delightful winner to bring up set point at 5-1.

Chela survived, but Murray comfortably served out the set, with the only question whether the players would complete another set before darkness fell.

The beginning of the second saw Chela get his act together on his own serve, and the 30-year-old Argentine even made some inroads into Murray's when he gained break point in game four.

The Scot eventually held before some utterly incredible defensive play earned him his own break point in the next game.

He was rewarded when Chela then went wide to give him a 3-2 lead.

However, the world number 54 continued to trouble Murray on serve, an overrule in game six giving him break-back point.

Murray saved that but netted on a second to hand Chela parity.

The Argentinian responded to going 3-3 by questioning the fading light and play was suspended at just after 9.30pm, prompting Murray to slam his racquet into his bag before leaving the court.