Andy Murray says he is taking inspiration from two of his fellow peers who could potentially clash in the final of the French Open should they both win their matches on Friday.
Rafael Nadal and Marin Cilic have both reached the last four at Roland Garros. Nadal, who turns 36 today, is bidding to win the Grand Slam for a record 14th time in his career. The king of clay defeated Novak Djokovic in four sets earlier in the tournament. He will take on Alexander Zverev in the semi-finals.
Meanwhile, Marin Cilic’s quarter-final win over Andrey Ruvlev has made him the first Croatian player in history to reach the last four of every Grand Slam at least once. The 33-year-old is a former US Open champion (2014), as well as runner-up at both the Australian Open (2017) and Wimbledon (2018). He will play Norway’s Casper Ruud on Friday.
“I can take some inspiration from those guys,” Murray told reporters on Thursday.
Throughout his career Murray has played Nadal 24 times on the Tour (7-17) and Cilic 15 times (12-3). His current focus might be on the grass swing leading up to Wimbledon, but the Brit also has a keen interest in what is going on at the French Open. A tournament he decided not to play in order to focus on his training alongside coach Ivan Lendl.
“I don’t know whether it’s Rafa’s last run (at the French Open) or not because he seems to be doing physically really well during the event, so I hope he’s able to continue going for a while,” he said.
“Cilic as well, he’s someone I grew up with in the juniors and played a lot with. He has just made the semis of the French for the first ever time at 33 and is playing really well.”
Murray is the top seed at this week’s Surbiton Trophy where he is making his first appearance since 2004. In the second round he defeated world No.213 Gijs Brouwer 7-6(4), 7-6(3). Hitting a total of 12 aces and winning 81% of his first service points.
“It wasn’t my best performance, but I got to play lots of important points and deal with pressure situations that aren’t the same as in practice,” Murray said of his latest performance.
“I have done a lot of training, practised a lot, so now I need the matches and hopefully I’ll get a bunch of matches to get me ready for Wimbledon.”
Awaiting Murray in the quarter-finals will be America’s Brandon Nakashima who defeated Stefan Kozlov 6-4, 6-3.
Murray is seeking to win his first Challenger title since 2005 and his first trophy of any kind on the grass since Wimbledon 2016.
