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By Richard Pagliaro | Wednesday, June 7, 2017

 
Andy Murray

World No. 1 Andy Murray defeated Kei Nishikori to reach his fifth Roland Garros semifinal and set up a rematch with Stan Wawrinka.

Photo credit: Roland Garros

The first set flashed by and a cranky Andy Murray was hit with a time violation early in the second.

Whacking his racquet against his shoes, Murray dislodged clumps of clay from his soles then proceeded to put distance between himself and Kei Nishikori.

Watch: Thiem Dismisses Defending Champion Djokovic

The world No. 1 overcame a slow start and some sloppy play with stubborn spirit grinding down Nishikori, 2-6, 6-1, 7-6 (0), 6-1 in a two-hour, 39-minute win that wasn’t really pretty, but was very rewarding.

“Obviously, the way I turned the match around (was satisfying),” Murray told Tennis Channel’s Jon Wertheim afterward. “It was not a good first set. I was also struggling at the beginning of the second set, managed to make some adjustments and got myself into the match.

“It wasn’t the best match.. I got through it and finished strong… One of the tough things about tennis is you need to be able to change your game plan every couple of days.”

On a day when his best tennis often eluded him, Murray found his first serve, crept closer to the baseline and did the necessary dirty work to subdue the Japanese, who contributed to his own demise with 45 unforced errors.

The win propels Murray into his fifth French Open semifinal where he will square off against old rival Stan Wawrinka in a rematch of the 2016 semifinal, which Murray won 6-4, 6-2, 4-6, 6-2.

The 2015 Roland Garros champion crushed Marin Cilic, 6-3, 6-3, 6-1.

The third-seeded Wawrinka has not surrendered a set en route to his third straight Roland Garros semifinal.

“I played a really good match last year (against Wawrinka), I was very aggressive in that one,” Murray said. “Obviously, (I will) try to dictate as many points as I can.

“Stan is a big, strong guy and loves to go for his shots. He won a tournament in Geneva last week so he’s playing well. I’ll need to take it to him and hopefully play some good tennis in that one.”

The top seed wasn’t nearly at his best today.




Nishikori won 16 of 20 points played on his serve, doubled Murray’s winner total and broke twice cruising through the opening set.

Murray some spent time between points barking at himself, slapping his legs in frustration and griping at the chair umpire.

The feisty Scot showed the appetite for the fight lacking in the final set of defending champion Novak Djokovic’s straight-sets loss to Dominic Thiem.


An ornery Murray repeatedly complained to chair umpire Carlos Ramos about the distracting movement of the Spyder-Cam overhead. His gloomy mood was further tested when Ramos hit the Scot with a time violation warning early in the second set.

Returning his focus between the lines, Murray was gifted the break and a 3-1 lead on Nishikori’s first double fault.

Playing with more positive energy, a fired-up Murray barked “come on!” navigating a deuce hold to extend his advantage to 4-1 after 6-3 minutes.

Moving with urgency and striking with vigor, Murray pressured in the sixth game. His depth created break points, Nishikori’s judgement lapse cost him the break. Cruising forward, the eighth seed was in prime position for a routine forehand volley, but Nishikori failed to play the shot. His head fell when he saw Murray’s pass drop in. Nishikori leaned on the net in exasperation down 1-5.

Grinding through points, Murray drew a netted forehand to take the second set.

Neither man could gain significant separation throughout the third set.

They exchanged breaks in the fifth and sixth games. Murray broke again in the 11th game and served for the set at 6-5.

Roping an 85 mph backhand winner down the line from the center of the court where no angle exists gave Nishikori break point. A crackling forehand clinched the break forcing the tie break as Nishikori coaches Dante Bottini and Michael Chang leaped from their seats in support.

Elation gave way to immediate deflation for the eighth seed Nishikori, who carried a 5-5 tiebreak record on the season, was absolutely awful in the breaker.

Three straight errors followed by a double fault into the net gave Murray a 4-0 lead. Three more backhand errors left Nishikori bouncing his racket after donating the tie break and two sets to one lead.

Nothing would come easy as Murray double faulted then saw Nishikori rip a mid-court forehand breaking to open the fourth set. Murray slapped his hand off his thigh in disgust at the lapse.

Both players spent stretches fighting themselves. Nishikori sometimes followed a brilliant shot with an unsightly error, including spraying an inside-out forehand to gift back the break.

Blistering back-to-back aces, Murray held for 2-1.

Despite an early-season bout with the shingles, the wear and tear of his spirited run to the 2016 year-end world No. 1 ranking and his repeated habit of banging his legs like a jockey taking the whip to a racehorse, Murray showed scrambling skills create the second break.

Luring Nishikori forward with a drop shot, Murray covered the re-drop and raced book for a looper lifting a tremendous running lob that sent the Japanese scurrying back to the baseline. Murray won that adventurous point for 3-1 and used the dropper again to back up the break.


 

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