Andy Murray will take his place among the tennis elite on Friday when he faces five-time champion Rafael Nadal on a day of blockbusting semi-finals at the French Open.
The top four seeds have made it through to the last four and the day is fascinatingly poised as each has more riding on the outcome than the considerable prize of a French Open final place alone.
Murray is looking to reach his first Roland Garros final and edge closer to a maiden Grand Slam title; Nadal is trying to match Bjorn Borg’s record six French Open titles; Roger Federer wants to win a 17th Grand Slam title, and his first since January, 2010; and then there is Novak Djokovic.
If he beats Federer, the 24-year-old Serbian star will become world number one, match John McEnroe’s record for the longest unbeaten start to a year of 42 matches, and move to 44 consecutive wins overall – two behind the record of 46 set by Guillermo Vilas in 1977.
Nadal might have Murray in his sights but even he is intrigued by the other semi-final, saying: “It’s the best player of the world today against the best player in history.
“I think both of them have chances to be in the final. Djokovic is playing fantastic, Roger did very well during all this tournament. Roger has enough potential to beat everybody, and you know how good Roger can be in the final rounds of a Grand Slam.”
In the first of the semi-finals, fourth seed Murray will have his hands full trying to inflict only the second defeat on world number one Nadal in seven years at Roland Garros.
Murray, who said he planned to watch videos of his previous matches against Nadal in preparation, was at Roland Garros on Thursday for a light practice session and appeared to be moving well after suffering an ankle injury earlier in the tournament.
