Murray survives scare in Paris as confidence grows

Andy Murray safely negotiated another bump in the road at the French Open with victory over Richard Gasquet to move to within two victories of a first title at Roland Garros.

The world No 2 looked in real trouble at a set and 3-1 down in the second-set tie-break but won six straight points and from there raced to a 5-7 7-6 (7/3) 6-0 6-2 victory.

Murray is through to his 19th grand slam semi-final overall, drawing him level with Stefan Edberg and John McEnroe, and fourth at the French Open, the only tournament at which he is yet to reach the final.

Having lost to nine-time winner Rafael Nadal twice and world No 1 Novak Djokovic in five sets last year, Murray finds himself this time facing defending champion Stan Wawrinka.

Murray has never won a set against Wawrinka on clay but they will play for the first time on the surface since the Scot became a real force last year.

Murray came into the tournament on the back of victory over Djokovic to win the Masters tournament in Rome and clearly fancies his chances of lifting the Coupe des Mousquetaires.

He said: “Last year was similar. I came in not having lost on the clay and played some really good tennis. I believe I can win the event. Whether I do or not, we’ll have to wait and see.

“But I believe it’s possible and only a couple of matches away now. I’ll just give everything I’ve got the next few days.”

Murray had plenty of reason to be confident going into his match against Gasquet given his phenomenal record against both home players at the slams and Frenchmen.

Murray’s only loss to a home player at Roland Garros came 10 years ago against Gael Monfils, while it is eight years and now 27 matches since he was beaten by a French player at one of the majors.

The Scot had expected a red-hot atmosphere, with Gasquet, once the great hope of French tennis, having finally made a quarter-final here at the 13th attempt.

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