Murray takes solace in clay revival and plots Djokovic French demise
BRITAIN’S Andy Murray believes his standout scalps during an unbeaten 2015 clay season can ignite the fuse under his bid to overpower world No1 Novak Djokovic today and reach a first French Open final.
Two-time major champion Murray recorded his maiden clay-court titles in Munich and Madrid this year, the latter secured with a first ever victory over nine-time French Open winner Rafael Nadal on the surface.
He repeated that feat against Spain’s David Ferrer on Wednesday in the last eight at Roland Garros to extend his winning streak on clay to 15 matches, although standing in his way is Djokovic, who has defeated Murray in each of their last seven meetings.
The Serbian’s demolition of Nadal on Wednesday took his own winning run to 27 matches, while the 28-year-old is unbeaten in any grand slam or Masters level clash since October, although Murray has faith in his improving record on clay.
“Going into the match having not lost on clay this year and having some big wins on the surface is important to me,” said Murray.
“A couple of weeks were important, especially Madrid and the quality of players I won against there. For me, winning against Rafa in a final on clay regardless of how well he’s playing is an extremely difficult thing to do, so that helped.
“Then winning against David here, a player that I have lost against on that court a few years ago, it was a completely different match this time around.”