French Open: Andy Murray recovers to beat Richard Gasquet and reach semi-final

The Scot won the quarter-final against the home favourite to make the Roland Garros semi-finals for the fourth time

Andy Murray overcame a slow start to win his French Open quarter-final on Wednesday afternoon (Getty)

If winning the biggest prizes in tennis all came down to natural talent there is every chance that Richard Gasquet’s career would have been just as successful as Andy Murray’s.

However, mental and physical strength can be just as crucial as any technical or tactical ability, as Murray showed once again in beating his French rival 5-7, 7-6, 6-0, 6-2 here to claim his place in the semi-finals of the French Open for the fourth time.

That is some record for a player who, in his early years at least, found clay his most challenging surface.

In the Open era only seven players – Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer, Bjorn Borg, Mats Wilander, Andre Agassi and Ivan Lendl – have made the last four here more times than Murray.

He has now reached 19 Grand Slam semi-finals in total, which among active players is bettered only by Federer, Djokovic and Nadal.

Murray, who will face Stan Wawrinka in the semi-finals on Friday, passed his latest milestone despite letting slip 5-2 leads in both of the first two sets and despite playing in front of Gasquet’s home crowd.

The world No 2, nevertheless, loves such a challenge. This was his 16th successive victory over a home player at a Grand Slam tournament and the eighth time he has performed that feat here. It was also his 16th win in a row against French opposition.

Andy Murray has made a habit of beating home favourites at Grand Slam events (Getty)

Gasquet, an elegant stylist with a beautiful single-handed backhand and a fine touch at the net, knows all about Murray’s mental strength.

The 29-year-old Frenchman has now lost to him in all five of their Grand Slam meetings, including three here.

He has also lost 31 matches in a row against opponents ranked No 1 or No 2 in the world.

The home crowd, nevertheless, might have done more to lift their man, who was playing in the quarter-finals at Roland Garros for the first time at the 13th attempt, which is a record in the Open era.

Although most of Murray’s winners were greeted by near-silence, it could hardly be said that the 29-year-old Scot had to play in an intimidating atmosphere.

The volume turned up only briefly when Gasquet made comebacks at the end of the first two sets.

It was very much a match of two halves. For the best part of two sets Murray looked out of sorts and played without his usual aggression, resorting far too often to drop shots, which a grateful Gasquet regularly punished.

The Frenchman was often the aggressor at this stage and reaped a regular reward from his forays to the net.

However, everything changed once Murray had won the tie-break at the end of the second.

As the Scot upped the ante, playing with new-found aggression and with much better shot selection, Gasquet’s spirits seemed to plummet.

In closing out victory after three hours and 23 minutes, Murray won 12 of the last 14 games.

“Both of us had our chances in the first two sets and it was very important for me to win the second,” Murray said. “It was a very tough match and I’m glad to have come through it.”

The match began in a curiously subdued atmosphere just after 2.15pm.

After the two world No 1s had preceded Murray and Gasquet on Court Philippe Chatrier – Serena Williams beat Elina Svitolina 6-1, 6-1 and Novak Djokovic beat Roberto Bautista Agut 3-6, 6-4, 6-1, 7-5 – half the crowd seemed to decide that lunch was their biggest priority.

The stadium was quiet for long periods as Murray broke serve at the first attempt and quickly established a 5-2 lead.

Gasquet had barely got going at this stage but suddenly raised his game.

Richard Gasquet began well but struggled to live with Murray in the final exchanges (AFP/Getty Images)

In a remarkable turnaround, the Frenchman won five games in a row to take the first set in 67 minutes.

When he served at 6-5 Gasquet had three set points and Murray three break points before the set was finally decided as the Scot netted a backhand.

At this stage Murray was chuntering away during the changeovers, holding one-way conversations apparently directed at his entourage and liberally laced with expletives.

In the other chair Gasquet spent most of his time repeatedly changing the grip on his racket.

In the second set Murray again went 5-2 up, this time after breaking in the sixth game, only to let Gasquet back in for the second time.

The Frenchman levelled at 5-5 and then went 0-30 up on Murray’s serve, but this time the world No 2 served his way out of trouble.

Nevertheless, there was still work to do in the tie-break.

Murray looked a disconsolate figure after double-faulting to go 3-1 down but won six of the next seven points.

The Scot fired himself up along the way with cries of “Come on!” and “Let’s go!”

Until that moment Gasquet had given as good as he had got, but in the third set the world No 12’s resistance proved about as strong as the topping on a crème brulee.

Richard Gasquet congratulates Andy Murray on his quarter-final victory in Paris (Getty)

Murray, playing with renewed aggression and attacking at every opportunity, dropped only 14 points in taking the set in just 27 minutes.

The fourth set went almost as quickly as Murray broke in the third and fifth games.

Murray said afterwards that winning the second set had been crucial. “That stretch of five or six points from 3-1 down in the tie-break was huge,” he said.

“Obviously the match could have been maybe more comfortable had I done a bit better serving out the first two sets, but aside from that I was playing some good stuff. I think I finished the match extremely well.

“It wasn't easy for me today. I played two guys, [Ivo] Karlovic and [John] Isner, in matches where you get zero rhythm.

"Then I had a two-day break where I was barely hitting any balls because of the conditions. It was just 30 or 40 minutes of hitting. Then I had to come out and play a completely different match today.”

Murray agreed he had played too many drop shots but said they had worked well at the start and added:

“At the end I think he was struggling physically, so I don’t know if, in the long run, that made it tougher physically because he was having to run for a lot of them.”

In his previous semi-finals here Murray has lost twice to Nadal and once to Djokovic. Now he faces the defending champion.

Murray has won eight of his 15 previous matches against Wawrinka, who continued his impressive run when he beat Spain’s Albert Ramos-Vinolas 6-2, 6-1, 7-6.

One lengthy winning clay-court streak will end.

Murray, having won the Rome Masters en route to Paris, has won his last 10 matches, while Wawrinka, who won the Geneva Open before arriving here, has won his last nine.

“He has obviously played great tennis here the last two years,” Murray said. “He’s been at the top of the game now for a number of years and is still improving.”

Before Murray and Gasquet went on court Djokovic finally booked his place in the quarter-finals by beating Bautista Agut.

The Serb and the Spaniard had been scheduled to play on Monday, when the whole day’s programme was cancelled because of rain, and were left stranded in the third set after only two hours’ play was possible on Tuesday.

Top seed Novak Djokovic faces Tomas Berdych for a place in the semi-finals (Getty)

Resuming at 4-1 in the third set, Djokovic came flying out of the blocks to win the first two games of the day, though he still had more work to do.

Bautista Agut broke to lead 4-2 in the fourth set, only to drop his own serve in the following game.

At 5-5 Djokovic went to break point with a beautifully executed drop shot, after which Bautista Agut netted a backhand to give the world No 1 the chance to serve out for a victory which sees him become the first player in history to pass $100m (about £69.3m) in prize money.

In the quarter-finals on Thursday Djokovic will face Tomas Berdych, who beat David Ferrer 6-3, 7-5, 6-3.

Djokovic or Berdych will then have to play their semi-final on Friday, meaning they will have been on court four days in a row

Dominic Thiem beat Marcel Granollers 6-2, 6-7, 6-1, 6-4 and now faces a quarter-final meeting with David Goffin, who beat Ernests Gulbis 4-6, 6-2, 6-2, 6-3.