Murray prevails in five sets at French Open

PARIS — Andy Murray ended home hopes by beating Gael Monfils 6-4, 6-1, 4-6, 1-6, 6-0 in a race to beat the fading light in front of a roaring crowd on Wednesday to reach his first French Open semifinal since 2011.

The last Frenchman standing in Paris sent the decibels soaring when he stole back the third and fourth sets, but Wimbledon champion Murray was in a hurry to take the fifth and ensure it did not become his second two-day match of the tournament.

Whipping up the Philippe Chatrier crowd, far from capacity after rain delayed the start of the day’s play by almost three hours, Monfils rode the Mexican waves and shouts of “Allez!” to turn the game around.

However, Murray, who had mostly been greeted with polite applause and a few chants from the visiting Brits, mined his own energy reserves to dominate the 27-year-old in the fifth and end any dreams of Monfils emulating Yannick Noah, the last Frenchman to win their home slam in 1983.

Murray had already endured a split five-setter against Germany’s Philipp Kohlschreiber to reach the last 16 on Sunday.

“I was told we had 20 minutes left, so you could potentially play two games, two or three games in that time. Six was the maximum that you could play. I mean, it was so dark at the end,” Murray told reporters.

“Thankfully for me he played a poor fifth set once I got ahead.”

Knowing he wasted his chance for a tilt at the title, Monfils said: “It was dark, but I really wanted to finish tonight, because I knew that he was not in great shape. I felt better.

“Maybe that’s why I was a bit rushed in attacking him. I’m very frustrated.”

Murray, who reached his 14th grand slam semifinal with the win, was beaten by world No. 1 Nadal at the same stage in 2011 and acknowledged playing him is one of the toughest challenges in tennis.

None of Murray’s 28 titles have come on clay. The last British man to win a title on clay was Buster Mottram in 1976.

In the other men’s semifinal on Wednesday, defending champ Rafael Nadal survived David Ferrer’s early fury before easing to a 4-6, 6-4, 6-0, 6-1 victory in a repeat of last year’s all-Spanish final.

Ferrer, who beat the world number one in the Monte Carlo Masters claycourt quarter-finals this year, ran out of steam after taking charge of the first set.

“(In the second set) Rafael started playing a lot better, making fewer mistakes, and then it’s like I threw in the towel,” said the fifth-seed, who lost in the all-Spanish final against Nadal at Roland Garros last year.

“I don’t usually do this, but I thought, I’m not going to be able to come back into the match. I thought, No, no, not against Rafa. He’s such good a player.”

It will be Nadal vs. Murray on Friday, in a rematch of the 2011 semifinal, which Nadal won in straight sets. The Spaniard will start as the overwhelming favorite, according to Ferrer.

“I think he’s going to play a lot better next match,” he said.

Nadal, however, maintained his usual modest approach, saying Murray remains a formidable opponent even on clay.

“Andy can play on all surfaces. He can play really well on clay. There’s nothing in his game that would prevent him from playing really well on clay,” he said.

At the Rome Masters last month, Murray won the first set of their quarterfinal clash 6-1 before fading away.

“Andy is really good with footwork, and his backhand sometimes can be very aggressive,” Nadal said. “Therefore, I think that he can really go deep. He can win many points on his serves, which really helps him.”

On the women’s side, Andrea Petovic upset Sara Errani 6-2, 6-2, and Simona Halep soundly defeated Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-2, 6-2 to advance to the semifinals.

Halep, seeded No. 4, is the lowest seed left in the women’s bracket and is now playing in her first grand slam semifinal

“I felt very well on court. It was a perfect day for me. I played really well. I was very aggressive. I played very fast,” Halep said.