We are heading into the final stages of the French Open, this year’s second Grand Slam. The men’s four semifinalists have been decided and as expected the two contenders for the title are still alive.
World number one and eight-time French Open champion Rafael Nadal was the main title contender for the tournament. The Spaniard marched through his early round matches to the quarter finals without dropping a single set.
He outclassed Robby Ginepri, Dominic Thiem, Leonardo Mayer and Dusan Lajovic in the first four rounds.
The Spaniard was drawn to face fellow countryman David Ferrer in the last eight, the same opponent Nadal beat in the 2013 final. After losing the first set 6-4, Nadal fought back to book his place in the semis by triumphing the next three sets 6-4, 6-0, 6-1.
Nadal will play current Wimbledon champion Andy Murray in the semis. Murray, who has equaled his best performance at Roland Garros, had to battle through his opponents, most notably in his third round and quarter final clashes.
After beating Andrey Golubev in the first round and Marinko Matosevic in the second, Murray played a marathon match against Germany’s Philipp Kohlschreiber. The Brit won the final set 12-10 to make it into the final 16.
He outclassed clay court specialist Fernando Verdasco in three sets before putting an end to the hopes of the French crowd. He battled past the last Frenchman, Gael Monfils, in another marathon which ended in Murray’s favour 6-4, 6-1, 4-6, 1-6, 6-0.
Nadal and Murray will now fight for a spot in the final in the top half of the men’s draw.
The bottom half of the draw is just as exciting. As expected the number two seed Novak Djokovic has made it to the final four, dropping just one set.
Djokovic breezed past Joao Souza and Jeremy Chardy in the first two rounds, before dropping a set against Croatian Marin Cilic but winning in four.
In Round 4, Djokovic faced 13th seed Jo-Wilfred Tsonga of France, the losing semifinalist at Roland Garros last year. Djokovic managed to overcome the crowd favourite with a straight sets victory and then defeated 2012 French Open runner up Milos Raonic in the quarter finals.
Djokovic will play Earnest Gulbis of Latvia, one of the surprise packages of the men’s tournament. The 18th-seeded Latvian defeated Lucas Kubot, Facundo Bagnis and experienced Radek Stepanek in first three rounds before he upset Swiss master Roger Federer in the last 16 in five sets.
After knocking out Federer, Gulbis claimed another scalp with a 6-3, 6-2, 6-4 quarter final win against the 6th seed Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic. The Latvian had never previously reached a Grand Slam semi final before and he’s expected to enter the top 10 for the first time as a result.
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