adminAndy Murray believes he can become the first British winner of the French Open since Fred Perry in 1935 as he prepares to face Stan Wawrinka in the last four. Murray, 29, plays the defending champion from Switzerland on Philippe Chatrier today.
“I believe I can win the event. It’s possible and only a couple of matches away now. I’ll just give everything I’ve got the next few days,” he said.
World number one Novak Djokovic plays David Goffin in the other semi-final.
British number one Murray has been to the last four at Roland Garros on three previous occasions, losing to Rafael Nadal in 2011 and 2014 and Djokovic in five sets last year.
Murray has won eight out of 15 previous meetings with 31-year-old Wawrinka, but has lost their last three — and all three on clay.
However, Murray has improved significantly on the surface in the past two years and beat Djokovic in the Italian Open final before heading to Paris.
“Stan is obviously playing great tennis,” Murray said. “It’s going to be extremely difficult [but] hopefully I can play my best tennis and reach my first final here.”
Third seed Wawrinka, who won the tournament last year and the Australian Open in 2014, still feels his career is inferior to Murray’s despite matching the Scot’s tally of two Grand Slam titles.
“Now that I’ve won a second Grand Slam people say I’m closer to him,” the Swiss said.
“If you were to compare our two careers, he’s well ahead of me given all the titles, the finals, number two in the world.
“He’s in the ‘Big Four’ [along with Djokovic, Nadal and Roger Federer]. There is a reason for this. Maybe he has fewer titles than the other three, but he’s always been with them during the semis, the finals. His career is very, very impressive.”
Murray has racked up 36 titles, compared to Wawrinka’s 14. — BBC Sport
Online Reporter