Murray serving to hold and go 4-2 up... and he's done it! Murray faults his first serve, but eventually wins the point. He had his full armoury working smoothly now: flat backhand drives, drop shots and lobs, and the inside-out forehand that only seems to arrive when he is feeling most comfortable. But he is one of the strongest men on the tour, capable of mainlining winners off both wings when the mood takes him, and other than a first-round wobble against Lukas Rosol, the 31-year-old has mostly been untroubled in Paris. He started meekly, but he's a break up! But some outstanding Murray defence earns him a break point! Yet he saves it brilliantly, dragging Wawrinka forward with a drop shot before punching a backhand volley down the line for deuce. He recovers to take advantage and then the game, beating Murray in a drop-shot shootout at the net. Certainly not this easily. He holds again. Murray leaps into a devastating overhead backhand and Wawrinka can’t stoop low enough to make his volley. Big game, this - Wawrinka's still well in this first set, certainly. Wawrinka moves in tight to the net for the second, dropping a deft shot out of Murray's reach. Today the forecast is cloudy with a couple of showers, but play should not be disturbed. 40-0, as Wawrinka's radar is off again and Murray secures the most comfortable hold he could wish for. Wawrinka's devastating accuracy has left Murray struggling on a couple of occasions in the opening exchanges. Murray has won eight out of 15 previous matches with the 31-year-old, but he has lost their last three - and all three played on clay. Not that he cares, but he’ll never be the darling of the crowd wherever he goes I expect.”. Then Murray nails a huge serve to make it 30-15, before he loses an awesome rally, netting a forehand on the run after a searing backhand from Wawrinka. In the very next point though, Wawrinka draws claps of his own and he slams a one-handed backhand down the line, kicking up white dust as it clips the line. The sheer power of Wawrinka, for the moment at least, seems like a distant memory. Four perfect points. Murray has been excellent today, by far his best performance in this tournament so far. “I knew today if I wanted to win i was going to have to play one of my best claycourt matches,” he says. One last thing: Murray beat Djokovic on clay in Rome before the French Open kicked off. Round 1 - beat Lukas Rosol 4-6 6-1 3-6 6-3 6-4, Round 3 - beat Jeremy Chardy (30) 6-4 6-3 7-5, Round 4 - beat Viktor Troicki (22) 7-5 6-7 6-3 6-2, Quarter-final - beat Albert Ramos-Vinolas 6-2 6-1 7-6, Round 1 - beat Radek Stepanek (Q) 3-6 3-6 6-0 6-3 7-5, Round 2 - beat Mathias Borgue (WC) 6-2 2-6 4-6 6-3 6-3, Round 3 - beat Ivo Karlovic (27) 6-1 6-4 7-6, Round 4 - beat John Isner (15) 7-6 6-4 6-3, Quarter-final - beat Richard Gasquet 5-7 7-6 6-0 6-2. Wawrinka doesn't muck about, though - he's 40-15 to the good in a flash and holds. His next is milimetres out - deuce #2 - but he chases a big serve to restore advantage again. Second set: Murray* 6-4, 3-1 Wawrinka (*denotes server): Murray’s entered The Zone. “I knew I was going to have to play one of my best clay court matches,” Murray told on-court interviewer Marion Bartoli. Wawrinka gathering some steam now, though. Three break points for Murray. Murray is struggling to finish this game off and he’s facing a break point after carelessly netting a forehand. A silly error from Wawrinka gifts the next to Murray, as the Swiss slices it wildly into the net. Stan serves well to win the next, before forcing Murray to the back of the court with a powerful forehand, eventually grabbing the next shot to take the game to 40-15. Serving for the match, Murray grabs the first point, charging the net and watching as a blocked return from Wawrinka drifts wide. 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It's fast and furious, and the world No 2 is on a whole different level. I never expected to reach the final here. He backhands into the net for 15-0, before a gruelling rally ends with Murray watching another Swiss backhand drop just out: 30-0. This is outstanding tennis from the world No2. “Many things happened to him,” said the 35-year-old Wawrinka, who is seeded 16th. The Swiss thumps a backhand into the net post: 15-30. Set point Wawrinka! Junior and wheelchair players also took part in singles and doubles events. But he hasn’t been used to playing the very elite recently, having faced just one top-ten player all season (Nadal in Monte Carlo), and lost that match heavily. Murray goes down the backhand side again, and Wawrinka nets the volley! Murray's focus was perfect today, never letting his standards slip. He can! This is where Murray really needs to make it count. His first serve percentage isn’t what it could be at the moment and he’s starting to suffer a little, rushing a forehand volley wide for 0-30. How's that for an initial response from Murray? What are the odds for the men's singles winner? He forces an error to make it 30-all before acing for 40-30. Andy Murray has reached his first French Open final after a superb performance to knock out the defending champion! Wawrinka skipped the U.S. Open due to COVID-19 concerns and instead focused on building his form on the European claycourts. Wawrinka generally blocks the first serve of his opponent, whereas Murray’s slightly quicker eye allows him to strike the ball back with more depth and venom. We could well be as Murray wins yet another point to give himself three break points. Murray served out the first set despite some turbulence, saving three break points with big first serves out to Wawrinka’s single-handed backhand. And then a third, giving himself three break points. Murray moves ahead, I start a new paragraph, but he then double-faults - deuce #4! “Come on!” he barks. Djokovic defeated Tomas Berdych in straight sets yesterday, leading him to his sixth French Open semi-final in a row. It was some effort to beat the defending champion and although he lost the third set, the reality is Murray thrashed Stan Wawrinka today to reach the final Sunday at Roland Garros for the first time, dismantling him the quality, intelligence and consistency of his tennis. Wawrinka has started ominously well, moving into a 40-0 lead thanks to a couple of deft volleys and he holds thanks to a dreamy drop shot. Beating him will require a monumental effort, that’s already clear. Murray puts one long at the back of the court to surrender the first point on his serve, and 'zero trente' comes the call shortly after. Fourth set: Murray 6-4, 6-2, 4-6, 3-2 Wawrinka* (*denotes server): Wawrinka hits the tape twice in this game - and still holds to love. But again he won't let Murray bring it home - deuce again. Murray goes for an optimistic lob...and it's enough! At 15-15 Stan Wawrinka plays a terrible shot, drawing 'Ooh's from the crowd on Philippe-Chatrier. There will be a slight break before the Brit comes out for his own semi, against reigning champion Stan Wawrinka, but we're not far away now. ©Copyright 2001-2020. First set: Murray* 4-2 Wawrinka (*denotes server): Wawrinka was complaining about something during the changeover. He briefly threatens to let Murray back into it but holds to 15. Murray bounces back for set point, though! Perplexing against Radek Stepanek and Mathias Bourgue, comfortable against Ivo Karlovic and John Isner, sloppy then inspired over the course of four sets against Richard Gasquet, now Andy Murray needs to produce his best tennis on a consistent basis if he is to reach his first French Open final. #RG16 pic.twitter.com/HBQ2wltqS9. The comments below have not been moderated. Murray pushes a forehand long and Wawrinka takes control of the next rally with a big forehand down the line. Does lightning strike thrice? Last chance to break the Stan serve...and this time he does it! The Tennis Podcast: Picking women's finalists, fouling Maradona and what’s up with Novak Djokovic? He holds, though! ... First set: Murray 4-3 Wawrinka* (*denotes server): Wawrinka begins the game with a double-fault … And it's much the same in the next as Murray takes a 40-0 lead, but Wawrinka fights back to earn himself a point. That said, they've both made the final four... this tie between the second and third-ranked players in this tournament is sure to be a special one. Andy Murray reached his first ever French Open final on Friday after defeating defending champion Stan Wawrinka in the semi-final. That power is being matched blow for blow, too. © 2020 Guardian News & Media Limited or its affiliated companies. Deuce. He breaks again and is 4-1 up in the second. But he gets it out of his system by holding to 15 with an ace down the middle to ensure that Murray will have to serve for the first set.

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