Andy Murray will continue his quest to seal a maiden French Open after overcoming rain delays to defeat quarter-final opponent Richard Gasquet 5-7 7-6 6-0 6-2.
After their match was postponed on Tuesday due to the adverse weather, the Scot appeared to get off to a fast start on Wednesday afternoon, silencing the French crowd by going 5-2 up – but crucially he let the advantage slip as home favourite Gasquet came strong.
Another tight second set followed before Murray rallied to level after a tie-break and from then on, it was pretty much one way traffic as the Brit wrapped up the win in three hours and 23 minutes.
“That was some great tennis,” he said. “I think there were some fun points to watch, a lot of drop shots and a lot of variety.
“Both of us had our chances in the first two sets and it was very important for me to win the second because it was a very physical match up to that point. It would have been tough to come back had I lost the second set.
“I played a lot of dropshots at the beginning of the match, they were working early on but then I maybe played a few too many in the second set, but then after that I started to dictate more of the points with my forehand.
“There were a lot of changes in momentum so I had to keep making adjustments, and it was a very tough match so I’m glad to get through.”
Murray will now face Swiss defending champion Stan Wawrinka in Friday’s semi-final, and admits he will have to bring his A-game if he is to defeat the world No.4.
“He’s obviously been playing great tennis here over the last couple of years. He’s the defending champion so it’s going to be extremely tough,” he said.
“We haven’t played against each other in a little while but it’s going to be extremely difficult. Hopefully I can play my best tennis and try and reach my first final here.”
Sportsbeat 2016