Murray, Wawrinka to meet 2nd time in French Open semis

Paris June 8 (IANS) Scottish world No. 1 and top seed Andy Murray got off to a rocky start but rallied to defeat Japan s Kei Nishikori 2-6 6-1 7-6 (7-0) 6-1 and set up a French Open tennis semi-final rematch against third-seeded Swiss Stan Wawrinka who routed Croatian Marin Cilic 6-3 6-3 6-1.

Murray a notoriously slow starter was sluggish in the early going on Wednesday against the diminutive but aggressive Japanese No. 8 seed who was looking to employ the same attacking style he used to stun the Scotsman at last year s US Open reports Efe.

But once Ivan Lendl s pupil Murray settled into the match he used his greater reach to stymie Nishikori s attempts to strike winners and managed to gut out the victory in breezy conditions.

The taller Murray also had a clear edge on first serve winning 74 percent of those points compared to just 62 percent for Nishikori.

I didn t feel like I played great tennis today. It s a huge step in the right direction for me Murray was quoted as saying on the French Open s official Web site.

Anyone can win matches when they are playing well. It s winning when you re not playing your best is more impressive.

Even so Murray indicated more will be needed to record a second straight French Open semi-final victory over the red-hot Wawrinka who has not lost a set in reaching the final four for the third straight year.

Stan has played fantastic this tournament so far I don t think he s dropped a set Murray said. I played one of my best clay-court matches last year to get the win against him. I need to do the same again.

Wawrinka meanwhile took full advantage of a poor serving day by Cilic who put just 49 percent of his first serves in play.

All told the 2015 champion broke Cilic s serve on six occasions and won half of the big-serving Croatian s service points in a match that featured little suspense.

The 32-year-old Wawrinka a late bloomer who has developed a reputation as one of tennis best big-match players radiated confidence after his lopsided quarterfinal win.

Andy defeated me last year. He was playing better. Now the conditions are a little different. I think he s probably a bit less confident a bit more hesitant. Hopefully I can take advantage of that and find solutions to beat him the Swiss said of that upcoming Friday battle of three-time Grand Slam champions.

The other men s semi-final clash will pit Spanish nine-time champion and No. 4 seed Rafael Nadal against Austrian No. 6 seed Dominic Thiem who upset second-seeded Serbian Novak Djokovic the defending champion in straight sets.

--IANS
tri/vt