650 and counting for Murray
PARIS — For all of the tumult in the French Open women’s draw and the unfamiliar names filling the quarter-final slots, the men’s tennis tournament has been much more about the usual suspects: Andy Murray, Novak Djokovic, Stan Wawrinka and, of course, Rafael Nadal.
The No. 1-seeded Murray, a three-time major champion and last year’s runner-up at Roland Garros, and No. 3 Wawrinka, whose own trio of Grand Slam trophies includes the 2015 French Open, moved into the quarters with ho-hum, straight-set victories Monday.
While three of the winners in women’s fourth-round action Monday — No. 2 Karolina Pliskova, No. 3 Simona Halep and No. 5 Elina Svitolina — are highly seeded, none of the eight players left in that field has yet won a Grand Slam tournament.
“Everyone knows who remains in the draw,” said Svitolina, who was two points from losing before coming back to beat 290th-ranked Petra Martic, 4-6, 6-3, 7-5. “It’s a big opportunity.”
There’s a lot more experience and hardware among the remaining men. There’s Murray and Wawrinka on the top half of the bracket. On the bottom half, No. 2 Djokovic, the defending champion, and No. 4 Nadal, seeking a record-extending 10th title in Paris, would set up a showdown in the semifinals with one victory apiece Tuesday.
“Looks like one of the top four guys” is going to end up grasping the champion’s Coupe des Mousquetaires, seven-time major titlist John McEnroe observed.
He thinks “quite probably” the semifinals will be No. 1 vs. No. 3, and No. 2 vs. No. 4, he added.
Murray was barely tested in the fourth round, beating 21-yearold Karen Khachanov, 6-3, 6-4, 6-4. Wawrinka had only a bit more trouble, eliminating the last Frenchman, No. 15 Gael Monfils, 7-5, 7-6 (7), 6-2.
Next for Murray is a match against No. 8 Kei Nishikori, who worked through a slow start to defeat Fernando Verdasco, 0-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-0.
Murray’s head-to-head record against Nishikori is 8-2.
Wawrinka, meanwhile, is 11-2 against quarter-final opponent No. 7 Marin Cilic, who was leading 6-3, 3-0 when Kevin Anderson stopped because of an injured left hamstring.
Cilic knows what it takes to win a major title — he topped Nishikori in the 2014 U.S. Open final — so he appreciates his easy path. He has not dropped a set.
“It’s a huge bonus for me, looking to the rest of the tournament,” Cilic said, “knowing that, mentally and physically, I haven’t spent any energy at all.”
Murray did not arrive in Paris at the height of his powers, dealing with a cold and some recent shaky results.
But he appears to have found his form.
Dealing quite well with a swirling wind that other players complained about, Murray made only 14 unforced errors and broke the strong-serving Khachanov five times.
“Each match, I feel like I played better. I have hit the ball cleaner and started to see the right shots at the right moments,” said Murray, who became the 15th man with 650 tour-level match victories and has a .782 career winning percentage. “Yeah, come a long way the last 10 days or so.”
Svitolina plays 2014 runner-up Halep, who beat No. 21 Carla Suarez Navarro, 6-1, 6-1. In another quarter-final, Pliskova meets No. 28 Caroline Garcia, a 6-2, 6-4 winner over Alize Cornet in a match between two Frenchwomen.