Gritty Murray into last eight
BRITAIN’S Andy Murray joked he had “more pills in me than Ozzy Osbourne” after overcoming a torn ankle tendon and fighting back from the brink of defeat to reach the quarter-finals of the French Open.
Murray (right) underlined his reputation as one of the game’s grittiest performers by battling from 5-2 down in the final set to beat 15th seed Viktor Troicki, who had won the first two sets of a match that began on Monday.
The Scot eventually wrapped up a 4-6, 4-6, 6-3, 6-2, 7-5 victory and, because his match ran into a second day, will be thrown straight back into action this afternoon against Argentinian Juan Ignacio Chela. “I managed to come back from a situation that on another day or another tournament I might not have been able to, so I was proud of that,” said fourth seed Murray. “I don’t think many people recover from a sprained ankle and a tear in a tendon in two days. I was told to stay off my feet the day in between the matches. I was given crutches which I didn’t use because I didn’t know how to.”
Resuming at two sets all, Murray quickly found himself behind to Serbian Troicki as he felt his way back into the match. Not until he was 5-2 down was he stirred into a reaction, untethering his aggressive side to win five successive games.
“Once I went behind again, I loosened up a little bit, started going for my shots more and got through it,” he added. “Emotionally it was pretty challenging.”
Murray plays the unseeded Chela, against whom he has won his last six meetings, second today on Court Suzanne Lenglen.
Federer sets up Djokovic meeting
THIRD seed Roger Federer will face in-form Novak Djokovic in the last four after the Swiss great despatched home favourite Gale Monfils in straight sets.
Federer, aiming for his second French Open crown, won 6-4, 6-3, 7-6 to set up a clash with Djokovic, the second seed who is on a staggering 43-match winning run.
World No1 Rafael Nadal faces Sweden’s Robin Soderling in their quarter-final today.
In the women’s draw, defending champion Francesca Schiavone overcame a major scare before beating 15th seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova. The Italian was one set down and trailing 4-1 in the second but fought back to win 1-6, 7-5, 7-5. The Italian will play Marion Bartoli in the last four after the Frenchwoman beat Svetlana Kuznetsova 7-6 (7-4), 6-4.