PARIS — Entertaining as his French Open quarterfinal might have been, Andy Murray hardly enjoyed the experience.
“When you’re out there,” Murray said, “I personally find it quite stressful.”
Yelling at his entourage and muttering to himself, the No. 2-seeded Murray alternated between brilliant and bad for the better part of two sets while dealing with a French opponent and a partisan crowd Wednesday, before righting things to beat No. 9 Richard Gasquet 5-7, 7-6 (3), 6-0, 6-2 and reach his fourth semifinal at Roland Garros.
“I thought I did well, for the most part, in a tough atmosphere,” said Murray, whose next opponent is defending champion Stan Wawrinka, a 6-2, 6-1, 7-6 (7) winner against 55th-ranked Albert Ramos-Vinolas.
Murray had a much tougher time. He led 5-2 in each of the first two sets and got broken while serving for both at 5-3. Then he trailed 3-1 in the second-set tiebreaker, a critical moment.
“Had I won the second set,” Gasquet lamented, “it would have been a totally different match.”
He didn’t, of course. After Murray’s ace made it 3-2, Gasquet got to a drop shot and wound up for what should have been an easy one-handed backhand, his signature shot. But the ball clipped the net tape, allowing Murray a putaway for a winner.
Hoping to see Gasquet become the first Frenchman to hoist the trophy since Yannick Noah in 1983, spectators urged him on with choruses of “Ree-shard!” They even loved a tremendous point Gasquet lost, when he wound up on his back, leaving his arms, legs, shirt, socks and shoes caked with the rust-colored dirt.
Now Murray can regroup Thursday, when the quarterfinals in the top half of the men’s draw will be played: No. 1 Novak Djokovic against No. 7 Tomas Berdych, and No. 12 David Goffin against No. 13 Dominic Thiem. Their fourth-round matches began Tuesday and finished Wednesday.
Because of showers, no points were played Monday and only about two hours’ worth Tuesday. All the rain tightened the schedule to the point that players will compete several straight days to get to the final, instead of enjoying a major’s usual off-days.
With more wet weather forecast, completing the tournament by Sunday is iffy.
Aiming to win his fourth consecutive major trophy and complete a career Grand Slam, Djokovic scored a 3-6, 6-4, 6-1, 7-5 victory over No. 14 Roberto Bautista Agut, then cajoled a ball boy to join him in bowing, then donning a floppy yellow hat.
Later, the first women’s semifinal matchup was established, with No. 4 Garbine Muguruza ending the surprising run of 108th-ranked American Shelby Rogers 7-5, 6-3, and 2011 U.S. Open champion Sam Stosur eliminating Tsvetana Pironkova of Bulgaria, 6-4, 7-6 (6).
And in fourth-round matches originally slated for Monday, No. 9 Venus Williams lost, while her sister, No. 1 Serena, won.
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