French Open: 'I'm just pumped to be in the quarters of a Slam,' says Andy Murray ahead of Richard Gasquet test

The world No 2, who will face France’s Richard Gasquet in the quarter-finals

Andy Murray celebrates winning a point against John Isner (Getty)

Like all the best counter-attacking football teams, Andy Murray loves to take on opponents on their own territory. Since losing to Gael Monfils on his French Open debut here 10 years ago, the Scot has played 15 matches against “home” players in Grand Slam tournaments and won them all.

The world No 2, who will face France’s Richard Gasquet in the quarter-finals here tomorrow, has a particularly impressive record against local favourites at Roland Garros.

Since that first defeat in 2006, Murray has won all seven of his subsequent matches against home players at the French Open, having beaten Jonathan Eysseric (2008), Gasquet (2010 and 2012), Eric Prodon (2011), Monfils (2014), Jeremy Chardy (2015) and Mathias Bourgue (2016). He has also beaten four Australians at the Australian Open and four Americans at the US Open.

“To be honest, I'm just pumped to be in the quarters of a Slam,” Murray said when asked about the prospect of taking on Gasquet at his home Grand Slam tournament. “Obviously the atmosphere will be tough, but I don't mind that. I played a number of times against French players here in difficult atmospheres and I managed OK.”

Gasquet, who is 11 months older than Murray, has figured prominently in the 29-year-old Scot’s career. He has won three of their 10 meetings but has lost all four of their encounters at Grand Slam level.

In two of those meetings Murray came back to win from two sets down. After his memorable fourth-round victory on Centre Court at Wimbledon eight years ago he rolled up a sleeve at the end of the match to flex his muscles in celebration of his new-found physical prowess, having worked hard to improve his durability.

Two years later Murray again lost the first two sets to Gasquet in the first round here but fought back to win. Murray recalled that the latter had been a difficult match considering that it was in the first round. “I managed to sneak through,” he said.

The Scot also remembered their 2012 meeting here. “It was actually raining quite a bit that day,” he said. “It was very heavy, cold conditions. I think I lost the first set and I won in four. I didn’t get off to the best start that day. I don’t remember a lot about the matches. I’ve played a lot since then. It was quite a long time ago.”

Gasquet’s talent has never been in doubt, from the moment he appeared on the front cover of a French tennis magazine at the age of nine. Nine years later, at the age of 18, he beat Roger Federer in the quarter-finals of the Monte Carlo Masters. However, success at the very highest level has always eluded him.

In particular, Gasquet has regularly disappointed at his home Grand Slam event. Until he beat Kei Nishikori in the fourth round here on Sunday, Gasquet had failed to reach the quarter-finals in any of his 12 previous appearances at Roland Garros. There have been times when he has lost to the big guns – he has been beaten by Novak Djokovic (twice), Murray (twice), Rafael Nadal and Stan Wawrinka – but he has also lost to, among others, Nicolas Lapentti, Kristof Vliegen and Fernando Verdasco.


 Richard Gasquet will be a tall hurdle 
 (Reuters)

Nevertheless, the world No 12 said his confidence had been boosted by his performances in Grand Slam tournaments last year. Gasquet beat Grigor Dimitrov, Nick Kyrgios and Wawrinka en route to last summer’s semi-finals at Wimbledon, where he lost to Djokovic, and beat Bernard Tomic and Tomas Berdych at the US Open before losing to Federer in the quarter-finals.

“I think I’m now better at the five-set format,” Gasquet said. “Physically I feel good. I think I’ve made good progress over the past years. That’s not why I’ve lost matches. I just needed to serve better and get into the net. That’s the only way to beat the very big players.”

Gasquet described Murray as “one of the biggest fighters on the court” and thought that the Scot and Djokovic were the two players in the best physical condition of anyone on the tour.

There will be a lot more rhythm, longer points, more physical matches, so I’ll need to change the way I’m playing a little bit.

&#13; <p>Andy Murray</p>&#13;

“He runs all over the place,” Gasquet said. “You never get a free point off him. He’s very strong mentally. Physically he’s perfect. He’s a big competitor. He always hangs in there and wins these matches. He makes very few mistakes and defends very well. He’s confident.

“He had a surprisingly difficult start to this tournament, but he played very well in Rome and Madrid. He’s the world No 2 and for good reason, because he’s a great player”.

Gasquet added: “I know what I need to do. I need to play very offensively, because if I don’t it will be difficult for me to win. Of course I need to play a good match. Of course he will be the favourite, but I have nothing to lose.”

The Frenchman said the support of the crowd had played an important part in his victory over Nishikori. “It was like a Davis Cup match for me,” he said. “They made a big difference. It will be the same [against Murray], but for sure I need to play a big match to beat him.”

Murray, having beaten the big-serving giants Ivo Karlovic and John Isner in his two previous matches, knows that Gasquet, an elegant ball-striker with a sound all-round game, will provide a very different test. “Between now and the end of the tournament, it’s completely different matches,” Murray said. “There will be a lot more rhythm, longer points, more physical matches, so I’ll need to change the way I’m playing a little bit.”