Andy Murray battles past David Ferrer to claim French Open semi-final spot

03-06-2015 23:48
British No1 made to sweat but wins 7-6, 6-2, 5-7, 6-1 
 
Andy Murray to face world No1 Novak Djokovic
 
Had he not been playing on Wednesday, Andy Murray would have been as glued as everyone else here was to what was happening between Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal over on the main stadium court. Their quarter-final had been the talk of the town ever since the draw was made and, consequently, Murray had managed to cruise through the draw largely without fuss, happy to stay on the undercard. After his first victory on clay over David Ferrer, a 7-6, 6-2, 5-7, 6-1 win full of superb hitting and outstanding movement, there can be no hiding. Djokovic, and a third French Open semi-final, beckons.
 
Murray is the first Briton, male or female, to reach the semi-finals here three times, a statistic that stands out for a man who has taken a while to find his feet on clay, a surface that requires time as much as talent. Having won his first clay-court title in Munich last month, followed by a Masters 1000 title on the surface in Madrid, he is now on a 15-match winning streak. Beaten by Nadal in each of his previous semi-final appearances here, he might curse his luck at having to face the world No1 for a place in the final, especially while Stan Wawrinka and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga play in Friday’s other semi-final.
 
But Murray has never been more confident on clay and, 20 months on from back surgery, he is in some of the best form of his career, he has been calm and, crucially, he looks like he believes. “I think, in general, experience helps on this surface,” he said. “A lot of players who maybe didn’t grow up on it tend to have better years the more time they spend on the surface. I feel like, obviously, this year I played much better tennis on the clay. I feel like I understand how I have to play on the surface better than I did in the past. I’m playing much better than I was a couple of years ago.”
 
Having never beaten Ferrer in four meetings on clay, Murray had expected a grind, a battle to wear out the stamina of a man who loves nothing more than to run all day. At 33, though, the Spaniard is showing one or two signs of slowing down and almost seems to have the yips on his ball toss, which leaves his serve vulnerable.
 
Murray broke three times in the first set; the only problem was that he was broken three times himself as both men attacked the other’s second serve, trying to get in the first hit to put their opponent off-balance on a warm day when the court was more slippery than in the first week. Murray had the chance to serve out the first set at 5-4 only to falter and he needed to save two set points at 5-6 before winning the tiebreak 7-4 with some more outstanding hitting.
 
At times in the past, Murray has been accused – not always fairly – of falling back into his shell, being too passive and allowing the very best to dominate against him.
 
It’s true, though, that his two grand slam titles and his Olympic gold medal came when he was attacking and on Wednesday, as he has done for the past few months, he was aggressive throughout, always looking to move forward and take the battle to his opponent. Some of his ball-striking was breathtaking and his 53 winners matched up nicely against 36 unforced errors.
 
The second set hinged on the third game when Murray held serve from 0-40 with five brilliant points in a row to lead 2-1. That seemed to take the wind out of Ferrer, who was promptly broken in the next game. Murray repeated the feat to take it 6-2 and when he led 3-0 in the third, it seemed he would roll through to victory.
 
But Ferrer is not a man to put away easily and he broke back to level at 3-3. Murray had a match point at 5-4 but the 2013 runner-up saved it and then snatched the set with a break of his own.
 
Any frustration Murray was feeling quickly evaporated as he began the fourth set strongly, another sign of a focus that has barely wavered all fortnight. With his coach, Amélie Mauresmo, cheering him on, the Scot bounced back superbly, breaking twice to lead 4-0 and then closing out victory.
 
Murray admitted that he had stolen more than the odd glance at the scoreboard to check events on Court Philippe Chatrier, where Djokovic was finishing off a straight-sets victory over Nadal that makes him an even bigger favourite to win the title for the first time.
 
It is a win that is likely to have taken a weight off the Serb’s shoulders but Murray seems to have an inner peace about him here and he believes he can take out the world No1 to reach the final for the first time.
 
“I hope I can win against him on Friday,” he said, with just the hint of a smile. “Him beating Rafa doesn’t have too much bearing on the outcome. But, yeah, it was an important match for sure.”
 
What might help him is that the forecast is for temperatures to be well over 30C on Friday, with Djokovic not known as a lover of the heat. “That will definitely make it tougher physically,” Murray said.
 
theguardian
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