Andy Murray, Stan Wawrinka renew rivalry in French Open semis
PARIS — Andy Murray will try to reach his first-ever French Open final while his semifinal opponent Stan Wawrinka is gunning to defend his Roland Garros title.
The two top-four seeds won through on Wednesday in a chilly and grey afternoon after three days of rain interruptions. No. 2 Murray came from a set down to beat remaining French hope Richard Gasquet 5-7, 7-6(3), 6-0, 6-2. Earlier, Wawrinka beat surprise quarterfinalist Albert Ramos-Vinolas 6-2, 6-1, 7-6(7).
Murray leads their head-to-head matchup 8-7, though Wawrinka has won their three most recent encounters. Wawrinka owns a 3-0 lead on the clay, as well, most recently beating Murray in Monte Carlo in 2013, 6-1, 6-2.
Murray’s clay game has improved markedly, however. He beat Novak Djokovic in the final in Rome two weeks ago. Murray is 17-2 on red clay this year, including 10 matches in a row dating back to Rome.
“He’s played great tennis here the last couple of years,” Murray said on court of Wawrinka. “It’s going to be extremely tough, extremely difficult. We haven’t played for a while.”
Both men are the owners of two Grand Slam titles, though Wawrinka’s have come more recently: at the Australian Open in 2014, and then at the French Open last year. Murray won the U.S. Open in 2012 and Wimbledon in 2013. He has advanced to his fourth semifinal at the French Open, having lost at this stage last year, in 2014 and 2011.
Magnus Norman, Wawrinka’s coach and the former world No. 2, said the Swiss man is more dangerous as the tournament goes on. Wawrinka lost here in the first round two years ago, but has reached the quarterfinals or better at 10 of his last 13 majors.
“He needs to play a lot of matches,” said Norman. “The more tennis he plays, the better he is. The last few years he has a better record in best-of-five matches vs. best-of-three. He’s an aerobic player. He needs time to get going, and then he can go for a long time. The best-of-five suits him well. A lot of tennis brings the best out of him.”
Wawrinka is on a nine-match win-streak, having captured a warm-up event prior to the tournament in Geneva.
Both Murray and Wawrinka survived early-tournament scares. Murray was two points from losing to Radek Stepanek (after trailing two sets to love) in the first round, and then needed five sets in Round 2 against Frenchman Mathias Bourgue, who led two sets to one.
Wawrinka trailed Lukas Rosol by two sets to one in the first round before rallying. He’s looking to become the first defending champion to win consecutive titles at the French Open since Rafael Nadal won five in a row from 2010 to 2014.
This will be the fifth meeting for Murray and Wawrinka at a major. It's their first since the 2013 U.S. Open in the quarterfinals, won by Wawrinka in straight sets.
The bottom half of the draw remains a day ahead of the top after rain has wreaked havoc on the French Open schedule this fortnight. Top seed Novak Djokovic completed his fourth-round match earlier Wednesday, and is due to play his quarterfinal Thursday.
Murray and Wawrinka are due to meet on Friday.