Latest update January 23rd, 2025 7:40 AM
Andy Murray fights back to beat Richard Gasquet
BBC Sport – Andy Murray eventually found his form to get the better of home favourite Richard Gasquet and reach the semi-finals of the French Open.
Murray is through to his fourth semi-final at Roland Garros. (Reuters)
Murray lost the first set from 5-2 up and let a similar lead slip in the second before taking the tie-break, and going on to win 5-7 7-6 (7-3) 6-0 6-2.
The Scot, seeded second, will face holder Stan Wawrinka of Switzerland in the last four on Friday.
Third seed Wawrinka beat Spain’s Albert Ramos-Vinolas 6-2 6-1 7-6 (9-7).
Murray has now won his last 10 matches, having won the Italian Open last month, and is through to his fourth French Open and 19th Grand Slam semi-final.
In the other half of the draw, rain delays mean the quarter-finals between Novak Djokovic and Tomas Berdych, and David Goffin and Dominic Thiem, will be played on Thursday.
Gasquet lets chance slip in tie-break
Murray had won all four previous Grand Slam meetings with Gasquet but gave the Frenchman every opportunity to improve on that record.
The Briton earned a 5-2 lead before his early success with drop shots disappeared, and double faults at key times helped Gasquet run through five straight games.
A similar pattern followed in the second set, as Murray again failed to serve out from 5-2 and fell 3-1 down in the tie-break, but he gathered himself to finally take control with six straight points.
The Parisian crowd had been hoping their man could emulate Yannick Noah’s title-winning run of 1983, but Gasquet’s challenge faded dramatically in the third set.
After the first two sets took well over two hours, Murray raced through the third in 27 minutes, and a sharp forehand volley gave him the decisive breakthrough early in the fourth.
“Stop it!” shouted Murray after his fourth double fault of the afternoon but it did not signal another collapse, and the world number two reeled off 13 of the last 15 games to win in three hours and 23 minutes.
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