PARIS, May 24 (AFP) - Defending champion Carlos Moya of Spain answered a wake-up call in the nick of time on Monday to advance to the second round of the men's singles at the French Open with a five-set victory over Austrian Markus Hipfl. Moya, the fourth seed, almost became the first men's Roland Garros title holder to go out at the first time of asking. But he belatedly found his form to see off Hipfl 3-6, 1-6, 6-4, 6-2, 6-4 in 2hr 54min. Hipfl, a 21-year-old right-hander playing only his second-ever Grand Slam match, shocked his illustrious opponent by winning the first set 6-3 then broke for 2-1 in the second and promptly tore through the set 6-1. But Moya, who held the number one spot for two weeks last March, broke at the start of the third with his opponent visibly starting to tire and wrapped up the set 6-4. And although Hipfl drew on every last drop of his energy reserves, Moya took the fourth despite an early Hipfl break and despite the Austrian having a string of break points in the sixth game. "The way I was playing I didn't see any way out. I think I woke up. It was 12 o'clock and time to wake up," said Moya. The relieved Spaniard said he was thinking of asking for afternoon matches in future as "I'm a bit lazy ... it takes time for me to be awake." Hipfl doggedly refused to give up and led 2-1 in the fifth but Moya reasserted his authority and won the next three games. The Austrian held serve to 4-3 but Moya held to love and then moved to match point on Hipfl's serve after the Austrian hit a low volley into the net. But Moya then promptly netted and hit a return long to hand Hipfl the advantage. A crushing forehand allowed the Austrian to close to 5-4. Two long returns from Hipfl handed the initiative back to the title-holder and Moya closed out the match on his second match point. "It was tough to come back," Moya said. "I was a bit nervous. He fought really well - they are extra motivated when they play the defending champion. "But winning is the important thing. It would have been a shame to go out in the first round as defending champion." Hipfl said he thought he had a chance right through to the end, but admitted once Moya started firing on all cylinders he had proved too strong. "In the first two sets I played my best tennis but in the third he started to play better," Hipfl said. "I had my chances in the fourth - I was a break up - but I couldn't control my game." Moya, without a title so far this year, next plays Czech veteran Petr Korda, who ousted Spain's Alberto Martin in four sets.  