Game, set and match: Andy Murray celebrates after beating Kei Nishikori to set up a semi-final meeting with Stan Wawrinka at the French Open
Serve penalty angers Murray as he rallies to set up Wawrinka duel
A NDY MURRAY probably never expected he would have to use his postal vote in today’s general election. Everything prior to this French Open suggested that, by the time the polling booths opened, he would be long back in Blighty and acclimatised to the low balls skidding off the grass.
It has turned out very differently and, far from losing his deposit at Roland Garros Central, he could theoretically win the whole thing.
He admitted to some surprise, comparing himself to the other semi-finalists: ‘I came in here playing garbage, so I’m the odd one out in the last four. If someone had offered me a semi-final spot before the tournament, I would have signed up for that because I was not playing well at all. And practice was not good.’
Should he beat Stan Wawrinka in a repeat of last year’s semi-final then he will not even be home until Sunday or Monday, something unthinkable a fortnight ago.
While not always at his best in yesterday’s strong breeze, those flailing practice sessions in the lead-up seemed a distant memory.
Ultimately he managed to suppress the clean-hitting challenge of Kei Nishikori as the shadows grew longer yesterday evening on Court Philippe Chatrier.
Murray eventually won 2-6, 6-1, 7-6, 6-1 in two hours and 39 minutes. He will still need to improve his level if he is to make a second final in this part of the French capital in the last seven months.
It still seems unlikely that he will replicate November’s triumph on the eastern side of the city, at Bercy, where he won the indoor Paris Masters en route to claiming the world No 1 spot.
Before even considering an eventual clash with Rafael Nadal or Dominic Thiem, it is worth underscoring that Wawrinka will prove a formidable obstacle.
While Murray is alone among the last four in having dropped sets this fortnight, the Swiss powerhouse overwhelmed Marin Cilic yesterday for the loss of just seven games.
Yet making a deep run at the clay court Grand Slam is now familiar territory for the 30-year-old Scot.
He is through to a fifth French Open semi-final and it is strange to reflect that, since winning the US Open in 2012, he has enjoyed greater consistency here than at his beloved Flushing Meadows.
‘When I’m getting into longer rallies now, I feel like I’m sort of in autopilot, like I know what I should be doing,’ he said. ‘I didn’t think I played great today, but it’s about finding a way to get the win. The most pleasing thing about it is I didn’t play my best and I won against a top player.’
In several matches this fortnight it has taken something to flick a switch within Murray, and this time it was a row with Portuguese umpire Carlos Ramos.
During the third game of the second set he had a serve deducted for a time violation.
He made a mistake on his ball toss and, as so often with these things, it seemed a fairly random sanction under a regulation that has been allowed to become a shambolic nonsense by the authorities.
Murray is not a serial offender on this front, and he got so annoyed that he proceeded to pull out some of his best tennis. ‘Obviously for a couple of points after that I was fired up, because I was frustrated,’ he said.
‘It felt to me like a strange decision. I have never seen anyone get a warning after they have missed the ball toss. Because there is no clock on the court it’s difficult for the players to know how long they are taking.
‘If I was playing much slower than I was in the rest of the tournament, then I’m sorry for that, but I don’t feel like I was.
‘For the players it’s hard, because the consistency is not there.’
After that he began to strike the ball deeper and somewhat neutralise the deadly Nishikori backhand by pinning him back into the advantage corner.
The Japanese, who had played a brilliant first set by stepping into the ball as if they were playing on a hard court, seemed to get intimidated and was broken in the next game after an horrendous overhead error.
Twice Murray went a break up in the third set, only to hand it
straight back. The tiebreak was an oddity in that Nishikori played it like a player ranked 999 instead of nine, gifting error after error in conceding it 7-0 in a display of rare ineptitude. He went on to lose the last six games.
Twelve months ago Murray played one of his finest ever matches to defeat Wawrinka and make the final after a tournament in which he struggled at times.
The same story might be required tomorrow.