Murray Makes Roland Garros Semis
Andy Murray roared back from a set down to beat Kei Nishikori 2-6 6-1 7-6 (7-0) 6-1 to take his place in the semi-finals of the French Open. Murray will play Stan Wawrinka, who cruised through in three sets at the expense of Marin Cilic, on Friday, knowing that he has a real chance of reaching the final, against the same opponent he beat in last year's semi-final.
Whilst Murray has struggled for form at times in this tournament, he has been able to raise his game in every match he has faced up until this point, and it was no different in this one. Murray was sluggish and Nishikori was rapid out of the blocks, playing some phenomenal tennis to take the first set 6-2 and put the world number one on the back-foot.
The turning point came early in the second set. At deuce on the Murray serve in the third game, the umpire called Murray on time despite the Briton having already thrown the ball up. Murray was incensed and went on to slam home the next two points, shouting and pumped up as he stared down the official. The fire had returned and Murray went on to win the next four games to take the set 6-1. That said, he also benefited from Nishikori's service game imploding. In the first set it had been Murray's shambolic serving that had cost him dearly, but in the second it was his opponent gifting him double faults to break.
With the match level, the third set was a pulsating affair, Murray twice breaking only to immediately hand momentum back to Nishikori. Having broken to move 6-5 up, Murray will have been disappointed to have been broken back, but he comprehensively outplayed his opponent in the third set tie-breaker, which proved decisive. Murray won the breaker 7-0, and went on to cruise through the final set - winning it with two more breaks of serve. It was another example of Murray improving as his afternoon went on, whilst simultaneously his opponent couldn't keep up their momentum.
And whilst Murray's performance didn't hit his best levels, something that Wawrinka will have noted as he swept aside his opponent in clinical fashion, equally there were signs that Murray is capable of stepping up to the level required to match Stan blow for blow. Over the last couple of weeks, Murray has played some average tennis and some scintillating tennis and often both in the same set. But one element that has been consistent is that he's played as well as he has needed to to win comfortably, and no player yet in this tournament, including the well-fancied Del Potro and Nishikori, have been able to take more than one set off of him.
Nevertheless, Wawrinka is yet to drop a set in this tournament, and the world number one will have to up his game to reach the final. Before the tournament began, Murray would have been targeting the semi-finals and all things considered he's done well to reach that target, but now it's time for him to kick on.
The Hard and Fast Section
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