Murray prepared for titanic battle
A NEW name will adorn the Coupe des Mousquetaires today and Andy Murray hopes it is he rather than Novak Djokovic who will handle the weight of history better.
The French Open title has been dangling tantalisingly out of reach for Djokovic ever since he reached his first Grand Slam semi-final here nine years ago.
He has since amassed six Australian Open trophies, three Wimbledons and two US Open crowns but at Roland Garros the closest he has come is three final defeats.
Should he win at the 12th attempt, it will have taken him longer to get his hands on the prize than any other champion in history.
While Djokovic has long known this is a title he could win, Murray only started to believe it might be possible for him last year.
The Scot’s development into a true clay- court player has been one of the most-impressive feats of his illustrious career and it could yet see him become the first British men’s singles champion at Roland Garros in 81 years.
“It’s obviously a very big match for both of us,” said Murray. “Novak is trying to win the career slam, it’s obviously a huge match for him, and me trying to win my first French Open.
“Neither of us know how many more chances we’ll have to win here. It took Roger Federer a long time to win this one. It’s a very tough event to win. There is a lot riding on the match for both of us. I hope we can both play a good match.
“We have had some really big battles in the slams before on all the other surfaces. I’m sure it will be the same again.”
Spectators have been thin on the ground this week at a cold and damp Roland Garros but sporting and showbiz royalty in the shape of Eric Cantona and
Leonardo Di Caprio witnessed Murray’s hugely impressive 6- 4 6- 2 4- 6 6- 2 semi- final victory over Stan Wawrinka.
Cantona posed for pictures with Murray and his team afterwards, and the Scot said: “He was an incredibly talented guy, fun to watch. It was nice to meet him. He’s a legend in British football.”
Histor y does not favour Murray, given he has won only 10 of 33 previous meetings with his former junior rival Djokovic and just two in the last 14.
Murray did win both his slam titles by defeating the Serbian, at the US Open in 2012 and then Wimbledon a year later, but Djokovic has won all four of their finals in Australia, including the last two years.
Both men have had their ups and downs during the tournament, particularly Murray, who
needed five sets to defeat Radek Stepanek and Mathias Bourgue in his first two rounds.
He was also in trouble against Richard Gasquet in the quarterfinals but recovered well.
Djokovic’s only dropped set came in the worst of the wet conditions against Roberto Bautista Agut and he has only spent 12 hours and 54 minutes on court compared to 17 hours and 50 minutes for Murray.
But the difference will be cancelled out somewhat by Djokovic having had to play four times in a four days between Tuesday and Friday while Murray had a day off between his matches.
What is clear is both men hit top form in the semi- finals, Murray ousting defending champion-Wawrinka with the best claycourt performance of his career while Djokovic dispatched Dominic Thiem 6-2 6-1 6-4.