Stanislas Wawrinka had a tough start to the defence of his French Open crown as he battled through a five-set first-round clash against Lukas Rosol on Monday.

The Swiss professional earned a 4-6 6-1 3-6 6-3 6-4 victory in just over three hours in Paris.

The world number four had already been disrupted by the rain, but Rosol, who defeated Rafael Nadal in the second round of Wimbledon in 2012, made life more difficult for the Swiss.

Rosol was the first to break serve in the game, and he was able to hold on to take a first-set lead on the clay court, but Wawrinka responded in the second.

On his third break point, Wawrinka broke serve to take a 3-1 advantage, and he broke again before holding and levelling the match.

The 31-year-old failed to carry his momentum into the third set as Rosol went a break up at the first time of asking, and Wawrinka failed to create a single break point.

The 2014 Australian Open champion had to fight back again, and he managed to push the tie into a fifth and final set against Rosol, whose best finish at Roland Garros is the third round.

Wawrinka earned a crucial break point early in the deciding set, and even though Rosol initially denied his opponent match point, the Swiss was able to get over the line to reach the second round.