No. 1 Djokovic to face No. 2 Murray in French Open final

Briton Murray played with power and control during the early part of a 5-7 7-6 (3) 6-0 6-2 win that maintained a flawless 5-0 grand slam record against the ninth-seeded Frenchman, breaking when Gasquet double-faulted to lose the second game and consolidating to lead 5-2. Murray struggled early in the tournament this year with a couple five-set matches to open his Roland Garros bid, and many expected Wawrinka to send him home.

Williams is a win away from matching Steffi Graf’s 22 grand slam titles in the Open Era and Djokovic needs one victory to become the eighth man to tally all four majors.

Despite trailing 23-10 in career meetings with Djokovic, the Scot enjoyed a morale-boosting win on clay in the Rome final last month. But I’m here to try and win the tournament, not make the final.

“Obviously the last two years here he has played great tennis”, said Murray of Wawrinka.

“Stan was playing better every match and I played one of my best matches”. Whether I do or not, we’ll have to wait and see.

While reaching the title match at Roland Garros is a major milestone for a player who had never won a claycourt title before 2015, he is eager to ensure Sunday does not turn out to be a missed opportunity. “I’ll just give everything I’ve got the next few days”.

“It’s another grand slam title up for grabs for both Andy and myself”, said Djokovic.

Austria’s Dominic Thiem thumbs up after defeating Belgium’s David Goffin during their quarterfinal match of the French Open tennis tournament at the Roland Garros stadium, Thursday, June 2, 2016 in Paris.

But instead Court Philippe Chatrier was barely a third full when the players walked out, which perhaps contributed to Gasquet’s slow start.

The pattern came close to being repeated in the second set, with Gasquet again coming from 5-2 down to level, although this time Murray withstood pressure to take it to a tie-break.

“Novak trying to win the career slam it’s obviously a huge match for him, and me trying to win my first French Open, as well”, said Murray.

Radwanska said: “I’m just so surprised and angry that we have to play in the rain”.

Wawrinka, a French speaker from Switzerland, implored the crowd to get further behind him and they obliged.

“I was creating a lot of chances and I wasn’t taking them”.

She broke Stosur five times, profiting from the No.24-seeded player’s string of errors – including two double faults on break points in the second set. He should really have won their next encounter, too, wasting a two-set lead in the fourth round at Wimbledon the following year. So he has gotten a lot better and he can take pride in that.

Muguruza served two aces to bring up match point and won in 1 hour, 16 minutes when Stosur netted her stroke.

Halep echoed the Pole’s feelings, saying: “I can not comment about the conditions, I have no words”.

The situation is even more extreme in the women’s draw, where the likes of Serena and Venus Williams have not yet started their fourth-round matches and could have to play four times in four days.