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French Open: Andy Murray v Novak Djokovic halted by weather
Andy Murray was fighting to keep his French Open hopes alive when his semi-final against Novak Djokovic was suspended with a storm approaching.
The Briton trailed 3-6 3-6 7-5 3-3 when play was brought to a halt at 20:30 local time in Paris.
Djokovic, the world number one, had dominated the first two sets only for Murray to battle back.
The match will resume at 12:00 BST on Saturday, with the winner facing Stan Wawrinka in Sunday's final.
Swiss eighth seed Wawrinka's earlier win over Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga had lasted nearly four hours, meaning the second semi-final did not get under way until almost 17:30 local time, albeit with the temperature still at 33C.
Thunderstorms had been forecast to hit Roland Garros at some stage and, with little prospect of Murray and Djokovic finishing, officials opted to stop with the fourth set tied at 3-3.
That could be viewed as a triumph in itself for Murray, bearing in mind the Scot's predicament an hour earlier.
Russell Fuller, BBC tennis correspondent |
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"Murray landed a few jabs on Djokovic in the first two sets but the world number one barely flinched, and the bounce smash that Murray ballooned over the baseline to concede the second set seemed to confirm the hopelessness of the situation. |
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"But from somewhere, Murray rediscovered his missing spark and Djokovic didn't enjoy the experience. He will still be phenomenally difficult to beat from this position, but Murray has a chance, rather than an immediate trip home." |
Djokovic had looked every inch the French Open champion-in-waiting as he took the opening sets in a relatively brisk 86 minutes, denying Murray a single break point.
A brief visit from the trainer suggested he might be suffering in the heat but his tennis proved otherwise.
When Murray ballooned a straightforward smash over the baseline to give up the second set, it appeared he might be unravelling, just as he had in February's Australian Open final.
The 28-year-old Serb, aiming to become the eighth man in history to complete the full set of Grand Slam titles, had victory in his sights with two break points midway through the third set, but Murray held on and began to hit more freely.
A breathtaking forehand winner on the turn off a Djokovic lob jolted the Briton, and the Court Philippe Chatrier crowd, to life at 5-5 and another crushing forehand helped him to break.
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Moments later he had served out the set to a huge roar from the crowd, thrilled to be getting a contest, and Djokovic took a seven-minute medical timeout as Murray prowled the court alone.
The fourth set saw more drama. Murray reeled off nine points in a row to hold from 0-40 down in the second game and then break in the next, only to net an awful smash as he instantly gave the advantage back.
The Scot then held on superbly after a blistering cross-court winner from Djokovic left him trailing 15-40 in the final game before play was halted.
There was only one man who had time to win the match on Friday, but Djokovic was quick to pack up his racquets as the assistant referee told both men that the storm was imminent
Pat Cash, 1987 Wimbledon champion |
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"The momentum had definitely switched to Murray. Had Djokovic got that break in the third set, two sets and a break, it would have been all over. But Murray did a very good job of just hanging in there and getting himself pumped up emotionally. |
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"This is now a one-and-a-half set match, so anything can happen. We're looking at a match that could be over in 10 minutes. He's got to start well, be aggressive and on any small opportunities, go for it." |
.bbc.com/sport