Murray, Wawrinka set up semi-final duel as Djokovic hits $100m

PARIS, France -- Andy Murray and defending champion Stan Wawrinka set up a mouthwatering French Open semi-final duel Wednesday as Novak Djokovic became the first player to smash the $100 million prize money barrier.

Second seed Murray reached the semi-finals in Paris for a fourth time by battling back to defeat the last home hope Richard Gasquet 5-7, 7-6 (7/3), 6-0, 6-2.

Wawrinka, the 31-year-old third seed, became the oldest man since 1985 to reach the semi-finals with a 6-2, 6-1, 7-6 (9/7) win over Spain's Albert Ramos-Vinolas.

Gasquet, bidding to end France's 33-year-wait for a French champion, reeled off five straight games to recover from 5-2 down and claim the opening set in front of a raucous Philippe Chatrier Court crowd.

But former US Open and Wimbledon champion Murray won a second set tie-break before claiming 12 of the next 14 games.

Murray leads his head-to-head 8-7 with Wawrinka but the Swiss star has won their last three meetings as well as their only two matches on clay.

"Stan's played great tennis here the past couple years. It's going to be extremely tough, hopefully I can play my best tennis and try and reach my first final here," said Murray after a third win in Paris over Gasquet.

Wawrinka is the oldest semi-finalist in Paris since 32-year-old Jimmy Connors in 1985.

He was in complete control against world number 55 Ramos-Vinolas, playing in his first quarter-finals at the majors, firing an impressive 49 winners.

"Overall, I played a good match with an incredible level in the first two sets," said Wawrinka.

"I had to dig deep to finish the match. To win in three sets, it's ideal."

Wawrinka, who beat Djokovic in last year's final, will be playing in only his second Roland Garros semi-final.

Top seed Djokovic reached the quarter-finals for the 10th time by defeating 14th seeded Roberto Bautista Agut 3-6, 6-4, 6-1, 7-5.

It was a tie which started the previous afternoon after rain disruptions had washed out Monday and allowed just two hours of play Tuesday.

The 29-year-old Serb will on Thursday take on Czech seventh seed Tomas Berdych, who beat Spanish 11th seed David Ferrer 6-3, 7-5, 6-3.

- Stranglehold -

Djokovic has a 23-2 career stranglehold on Berdych who will be playing in his third Roland Garros quarter-final.

It will be the top seed's 28th consecutive Grand Slam quarter-final and 36th in all.

Djokovic also crossed the $100 million prize money barrier on Wednesday.

He started the tournament with $99,673,404 and the 294,000 euros ($328,303) he earned by beating Bautista Agut took him past the landmark figure.

Djokovic, seeking a first French Open title to complete a career Grand Slam, was 4-1 ahead of Bautista Agut in the third set Tuesday when play was halted.

But the Serb quickly wrapped up the next two games Wednesday and despite falling a break down to trail 2-4 in the fourth, he stormed back to claim victory on a second match point.

"With my coaching team, we had some tough talks on Tuesday night," said Djokovic, who had struggled in the heavy conditions when he had uncharacteristically dropped serve five times.

"But I came back with more intensity even though it was a tough mental and physical battle."

Austria's Dominic Thiem advanced to his maiden Grand Slam quarter-final with a 6-2, 6-7 (2/7), 6-1, 6-4 win over Spain's Marcel Granollers.

Granollers had made the last 16 without hitting a ball when nine-time champion Rafael Nadal withdrew with a wrist injury last week.

Rain halted play at one set apiece on Tuesday, but 13th seed Thiem quickly found his groove on Wednesday to race through the third set before nailing down a place in the last eight.

The 22-year-old will next meet Belgian 12th seed David Goffin who saw off Latvia's Ernests Gulbis 4-6, 6-2, 6-2, 6-3 in another match held over from Tuesday.

"We practise a lot together and he's also a very nice guy," said Thiem, who trails Goffin 4-2 including a loss at the Australian Open this year.

Goffin is only the second Belgian man to reach the last eight in Paris.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Colorful Federer's mood darkened despite easy win

PARIS - Roger Federer enlivened a routine day at the office with a violet and pink outfit and a several dabs of brilliance to launch another French Open quest but his mood darkened after a security breach on Sunday.

The evergreen Swiss was in full control against Colombia's Alejandro Falla, marking the start of his 62nd consecutive appearance at a grand slam tournament with a 6-3 6-3 6-4 victory on court Philippe Chatrier.

When he walked off, however, a fan sauntered on and began trying to snap a selfie with a mobile phone before he was belatedly removed by a security guard.

"I'm not happy about it. Obviously not one second I'm happy about it. It happened yesterday in the practice, too," a ruffled Federer told reporters, adding that organisers had apologised.

Tournament director Gilbert Ysern told a news conference that even though a mistake had been made and that the incident was "embarrassing", there was no reason to change security procedures at the tournament.

The 17-times major winner, champion at Roland Garros in 2009, was the star turn on a low-key opening day in a sunny French capital, taking to the court after women's third seed Simona Halep got the ball rolling.

Romanian Halep, seeded three after reaching the final last year, was made to work hard by 91st-ranked Russian Evgeniya Rodina, huffing and puffing her way to a 7-5 6-4 victory.

"It was a tough match, because it was the first round and it is always is difficult to start the tournament," she said.

Federer also made a few errors as he loosened up against a player he almost fell to in the first round at Wimbledon in 2010. But he was never in any danger.

Strolling on to court with a perfectly-matched violet shirt, pink shorts and black bandana, 33-year-old Federer quickly warmed to his task, while Falla offered enough resistance to provide some lunchtime entertainment.

Federer, one of 39 players in their 30s in the men's draw, breezed through the first two sets and though Falla had a break point in the fifth game of the third, Federer snuffed out the danger to roll through to round two.

While the "selfie seeking" fan soured his day, Federer was happy enough with his form.

"Winning a match like this is a good thing," Federer, ever-present at grand slams this century, said. "I hit a lot of balls today. Clearly hope that I will start to play better and better as the match, as the tournament goes on."

Federer, conveniently in the opposite side of the draw to nine-times champions Rafa Nadal, world number one Novak Djokovic and third seed Andy Murray, will have a few days off before a clash with Spain's Marcel Granollers.

His eighth-seeded compatriot Stanislas Wawrinka, one of several players to beat Nadal on clay this season, was a 6-3 6-2 6-3 winner against Turkey's Marsel Ilhan.

Japan's Kei Nishikori, the biggest threat to Federer in the bottom half of the draw, beat French wildcard Paul-Henri Mathieu 6-3 7-5 6-1 before local favourite Jo-Wilfried Tsonga rounded off proceedings against Swedish qualifier Christian Lindell with a 6-1 6-2 6-2 win.

Germany's Philip Kohlschreiber, beaten by Murray in a marathon match here last year, dropped only three games against Japan's Go Soeda, while Spain's Roberto Bautista-Agut beat German Florian Mayer, also in straight sets.

Russian veteran Mikhail Youzhny's tournament did not last long. He quit when trailing Bosnia's Damir Dzumhur 6-2 6-1 -- smashing his racket into his forehead several times as his frustration boiled over.

Former champion Ana Ivanovic of Serbia, seeded seventh, reached the second round by beating Kazakhstan's Yaroslava Shvedova 4-6 6-2 6-0.

(Additional reporting by Julien Pretot, editing by Pritha Sarkar)

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com