Richard Gasquet keeps home hopes alive at French Open

Richard Gasquet kept alive hopes of a first home win in 33 years at the French Open by beating fifth seed Kei Nishikori in the fourth round.

It is the first time in 13 attempts that Gasquet has reached the last eight at Roland Garros.

Gasquet will take on second seed Andy Murray in a mouthwatering quarter-final on Tuesday. He is the last French hope in the tournament, male or female.

The 29-year-old trailed 2-4 early in the first set, but after an hour-long rain delay, he won nine out of the next 10 games to turn the match on its head.

When they returned from the break, two unforced errors from Nishikori handed Gasquet a break and the Frenchman, roared on by the home crowd, broke again to win the first set 6-4.

The two had played each other eight times in the past with Gasquet winning the first six and Nishikori the last two, both earlier this month in Madrid and Rome.

Gasquet made it six games in a row by breaking Nishikori to start the second set and then holding his own, his magnificent backhand - regarded as the most stylish in the game - firing winners all over the court Phillipe Chatrier.

That proved to be all he needed to take a two sets to love lead against an opponent whose spiralling unforced errors total was out of character.

Nishikori kept it tighter in the third set and this time it was Gasquet who lost his way in a wayward 10th game that opened the door for the Japanese player who took the set.

Gasquet closed it right away though with a break to open the fourth and when he went 4-1 up with a second break, it was all but over.

The last French winner of the men's singles title at Roland Garros was Yannick Noah in 1983, with just one home player - Henri Leconte in 1988 - reaching the final since then.

"I started badly, but everyone helped me and it was difficult for Nishikori to play against that," he said.

"He re-started badly (after the rain) and that gave me confidence to play my game and go for my shots."