Andy
Murray hauled his way into a second straight French Open semi-final on
Wednesday with an impressive takedown of arch Spanish scuffler David Ferrer.
But the
scary thing is that this was the easy bit. Now comes the ultimate test in
tennis, trying to prevent Novak Djokovic claiming his first title at Roland
Garros.
Murray
successfully reversed his result against Ferrer at the same stage of this event
three years ago by winning 7-6 6-2 5-7 6-1 in three hours and 16 minutes. It
was his tenth win over the Spaniard but his first in five attempts on
clay.
Andy Murray reacts after setting up a semi-final showdown with Novak Djokovic at the French Open
Murray pumps his fist en route to a 7-6 6-2 5-7 6-1 victory over David Ferrer at Roland Garros
A ball girl rushes to offer No 7 seed Ferrer a towel as he toils during the quarter-final clash
Murray stormed through the fourth and final set for the loss of only one game
The world
No 3 is in the semi-finals here for the third time in his last four starts – an
impressive record on what is considered to be his least favourite surface. He
will now have to somehow try and reverse his terrible record against the
all-powerful Serb, who has beaten him the last seven times they have met.
'It's
going to be extremely tough, and I hope I can play high quality tennis,' said Murray.
'Novak must have played very well to beat Rafa in straight sets. It will be
very difficult.
'I knew it was going to be a hard match against David. The first set was very
important but he fought back in the third and then I had to fight in the
fourth.'
Murray
especially profited from his aggression on Ferrer's second serve, piling the
pressure on it by standing well inside the baseline to receive.
Clay court specialist Ferrer managed to win the third set before Murray stepped up a gear
Murray will play Djokovic (right) after the Serb became only the second player to beat Rafa Nadal at the French
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