Andy Murray sees off David Ferrer’s spirited challenge

Andy Murray booked a French Open semi-final showdown with Novak Djokovic on Friday, with a 7-6, 6-2, 5-7, 6-1 win over a combative David Ferrer. The British third seed preserved his 100 per cent clay-court record in 2015 in a captivating match against the Spaniard.

While the focus was on Nadal-Djokovic match, Murray and Ferrer match went on expected lines as both the players battled really hard in the first set. Breaks came and went for both the players, but there was a display of tidy groundstrokes until one man would make a mistake. The game then moved into the tie-breaker and Murray dominated the tie-breaker with a flurry of classy stokes, he sealed the set on his fourth set point from five available ones.

The third-seeded Brit, stepped up his game to a different level by hitting hard and deep. There were occasional drop-shots for variety. He quickly wrapped up the set with a forehand and even continued in the same fashion in the next set.

The Scot was powering through and even caused a stack of Double-faults for his Spanish opponent. But a loose game from Murray caused a break and Ferrer was roared on by the French Crowd. Even though Murray responded with some good serves to earn a match-point at 5-4, the Spaniard again broke his serve. At 5-5, Murray double-faulted and then hit a back-hand in the net to gift the set to Ferrer. But the experienced Spaniard had thoroughly deserved the set with some combative strokes.

But Murray did not waste his energy into useless frustration, instead he broke right at the start of the fourth set. Murray wrapped up game after game to race to 5-0 lead and but again squandered a match-point as Ferrer held his serve. The 33-year-old couldn’t prevent the Brit from serving out to win the match.

The Third seeded Murray becomes the first British player to reach the semi-finals at Roland Garros on three separate occasions having previously appeared in 2011 and 2014.

This match sets-up a mouth-watering clash with the world number one Djokovic for a place in the final. Djokovic had a test of mental character against Rafael Nadal to stroll into the semi-final.