Murray, Wawrinka to meet 2nd time in French Open semis

TIL Desk Sports/ Scottish world No. 1 and top seed Andy Murray got off to a rocky start but rallied to defeat Japan’s Kei Nishikori 2-6, 6-1, 7-6 (7-0), 6-1 and set up a French Open tennis semi-final rematch against third-seeded Swiss Stan Wawrinka, who routed Croatian Marin Cilic 6-3, 6-3, 6-1.

Murray, a notoriously slow starter, was sluggish in the early going on Wednesday against the diminutive but aggressive Japanese No. 8 seed, who was looking to employ the same attacking style he used to stun the Scotsman at last year’s US Open.

But once Ivan Lendl’s pupil Murray settled into the match, he used his greater reach to stymie Nishikori’s attempts to strike winners and managed to gut out the victory in breezy conditions.

The taller Murray also had a clear edge on first serve, winning 74 percent of those points compared to just 62 percent for Nishikori. “I didn’t feel like I played great tennis today. It’s a huge step in the right direction for me,” Murray was quoted as saying on the French Open’s official Web site.