It will be #1 Rafael Nadal vs. #7 Andy Murray in the 2014 Roland Garros French Open semifinals. Murray skipped the 2013 French Open and Nadal is the reigning champion.
Murray defeated hometown favorite #23 Gael Monfils, but it was an unusual match. He won the first two sets 6-4 and 6-1, but dropped the third set 4-6. That is when things got interesting. The crowd was fired up when Monfils won the third set and the fire was still there in the fourth set. As the sun set on Paris it appeared it had set on Murray’s chances at the semifinals. Monfils carried the momentum over and won the fourth set 6-1. He broke Murray twice while Murray never even had an opportunity at a break point.
It was getting dark at 9:15 p.m., with sunset scheduled for 9:48 p.m. The officials decided to finish the match and with the way Monfils was playing it should not have taken long. But it was not Monfils who dominated the fifth set. Murray was not going down without a fight and won 6-0 in only 24 minutes. He broke Monfils three out of six times, won all four of his net points, and only committed five unforced errors.
Nadal beat #5 David Ferrer, his opponent in the 2013 French Open finals, 4-6, 6-4, 6-0, 6-1. After the first set, it appeared Ferrer was going to make it interesting. He had Nadal scrambling and fighting for every hit. He started out strong in the second set, but Nadal found his groove and showed the world why he is King of Clay. He wore down Ferrer to easily win the third and fourth sets.
The men’s semi-finals will take place on Friday, June 6. Second-seeded Novak Djokovic, who only needs the French Open to complete his career Grand Slam, faces off against #18 Ernests Gulbis.
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