A highly charged Andy Murray battled back from a set down to see off France’s Richard Gasquet 5-7, 7-6(3), 6-0, 6-2, in the quarter-finals of the French Open.
Murray had a winning head-to-head of 7-3 against Gasquet prior to their latest meeting in Roland Garros. Despite the statistics being on the side of the world No.2, proceedings in Paris were far from straightforward as he squandered a duo of big leads in the first two sets of the match.
Starting strongly against the home favourite, Murray raced to 5-3 in the first set before Gasquet staged an almighty comeback. A series of errors from Murray enabled the home favourite to win four consecutive games to clinch the opening set.
A similar storyline occurred in the second set, but with a different outcome. Murray eased to a 5-2 lead, before Gasquet displayed some sublime tennis to level 5-5. The Frenchman was on the verge of grabbing a two-sets lead as he broke to move ahead 3-1 in the tiebreaker. It wasn’t to be for the world No.12, who was playing in his first French Open quarter-final. Claiming six consecutive points, Murray levelled the match at one set each.
The duration of the first two sets was a true test of both men’s fitness. After two hours and 20 minutes of action, the disparity between the two started to become evident as Gasquet struggled to maintain his intensity in the match. The early scare for the Brit was over as he dropped just two games in the next two sets to reach his third consecutive French Open semifinal.
“It was some fun tennis. Some great points to watch, a lot of drop shots and a lot of variety,” Murray said during his on-court interview.
“Both of us had our chances in the first two sets. It was very important for me to win the second (set) because it was a difficult match up until that point and it would have been difficult to come back if I lost the second.” He candidly admitted.
Stan Wawrinka awaits
In the last four Murray will play defending champion Stan Wawrinka. The Swiss No.2 overcame some late resistance from Spain’s Albert Ramos-Vinolas to win 6-2, 6-1, 7-6(7) in less than two hours. The impressive quarter-final display by Wawrinka consisted of eight aces and 49 winners. The upcoming clash will be a tough task for Murray, who is hoping to become the first British man to reach the French Open final since Bunny Austin in 1937.
“He’s obviously played great tennis here the past couple years and he is the defending champion.” The world No.2 said about Wawrinka.
“It is going to be extremely tough, we haven’t played for a while, so it’s going to be extremely difficult. Hopefully I can play my best tennis and try to reach my first final here.”
The semifinal match will be the 16th encounter on the tour between Murray and Wawrinka. The Brit narrowly leads the head-to-head 8-7, however, Wawrinka won their last meeting at the 2015 World Tour Finals.
