French Open: Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic light up Paris
Friday 5 June 2015 08:33, UK
Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray lit up Roland Garros on Wednesday and will meet in a mouthwatering Friday semi-final.
Murray always looked in control against David Ferrer, running out a 7-6 (7-4) 6-2 5-7 6-1 victor while Djokovic produced a dominant performance to crush Rafael Nadal 7-5 6-3 6-1.
Handy Andy
Murray’s game is in a fine place at the moment as he continued his unbeaten record on clay this season.
Having won his first clay-court title in Munich last month, he added a Masters 1000 win in Madrid; therefore he currently is 15 matches unbeaten on the surface – which, arguably, is his least favourite.
In seeing off the determined and pesky Ferrer, Murray has become the first Briton, male or female, to reach the semi-finals at the French three times. On his previous two semi-finals matches at Roland Garros he’s been eliminated by clay maestro Rafa Nadal, but that won’t be the case this year.
Deadly Djokovic
The Djokovic v Nadal match had got the sporting world giddy with excitement as this was the hottest ticket of the tournament so far for those lucky enough to be in Paris this week.
The match didn’t deliver in terms of competitiveness as the world No 1 beat the defending champion for the first time in Paris after six losses, including the 2012 and 2014 finals.
It was just nine-time champion Nadal's second defeat in 72 matches at Roland Garros and Djokovic's 27th successive win on the ATP Tour this year. The result potentially has triggered a changing of the guard regarding who is the king on clay. Rafa was completely outclassed by a rampant Novak.
This year Djokovic boasts a 40-2 winning record and is undefeated since February.
In that time, he has racked up a fifth Australian Open as well as sweeping Masters titles at Indian Wells, Miami, Monte Carlo and Rome.
"Everything is coming together in my life and I am experiencing probably the pinnacle of my career, of my life. I am a complete person. Very satisfied on and off the court," said 28-year-old Djokovic who, in the last 12 months, has got married and become a father.
Fantastic Friday
Murray and Djokovic will meet in Friday's French Open semi-finals, with the top-ranked Djokovic leading the third-seeded Briton 18-8 in career matches.
But as we’ve already noted, Murray has not lost on clay this season.
"He has improved on clay, no doubt about it. I watched him a little bit in Madrid," Djokovic said.
"Here he's been playing some really good tennis. He's moving better, serving very well, and he always had a (good) touch."
