Summary Andy Murray beat David Ferrer 7-6(4), 6-2, 5-7, 6-1 to reach French Open semi-finals.
PARIS (Agencies) - Andy Murray became the first British player to reach three semi-finals at Roland Garros by claiming his first clay-court win over World No. 8 David Ferrer on Wednesday in Paris. The 7-6(4), 6-2, 5-7, 6-1 victory lasted three hours and 21 minutes.
Murray, competing in his 17th consecutive Grand Slam quarter-final, is 8-0 against Spaniards since losing to the 33-year-old Ferrer in Shanghai. The Scottish World No. 3 has won all 15 clay-court matches he’s played this year, including titles in Munich and Madrid.
"I feel like obviously this year I played much better tennis on the clay," Murray said. "I feel like I understand how I have to play on the surface better than I did in the past."
His new-found confidence on the surface came in handy in a topsy-turvy first set that included three breaks of serve for each player. Murray saved two set points while serving at 5-6, only to find his footing in the tie-break. He would claim the 70-minute opener on his fourth set point.
The second set proved to be a much more straightforward affair for Murray, as he saved all three break points he faced while breaking Ferrer’s serve twice.
But the Valencia native would not relent in the third. Ferrer came back from an early break down and then saved a match point while serving at 4-5. He would break Murray to go up 6-5 and proceed to serve out the third set.
"I was frustrated to lose that for sure," Murray admitted. "But I got off to a good start in the next set, so my frustration didn t last long."
Murray rebooted his game in the fourth, closing out the contest on his third match point.
If the 28 year old hopes to reach his first Roland Garros final, he’ll have to overcome World No. 1 Novak Djokovic. Murray has an 8-18 FedEx ATP Head2Head record against the Serb, with his last win against him coming in the 2013 Wimbledon final.
"Going into the match having not lost on clay this year and having some big wins on the surface is important for me. I will just keep doing what I have been doing: have a good practice tomorrow, recover, and come up with a good game plan."
