Weather suspends Murray-Djokovic battle in the fourth set

   

The French Open semi-final match between Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray has been suspended in the fourth set due to the thunder storms and heavy rain that had been forecast. 

Djokovic was far too strong in the opening two sets but Murray staged a late fightback to take the match to a fourth set.

The beginning of the match saw both players had difficulty holding serve due to the lengthily punishing rallies that they were displaying, but it was Murray who sensed an opportunity at 3-3, and quickly established a 30-0 lead on Djokovic’s serve. The Serbian seemed unsettled and in discomfort, but somehow he managed to hold on following some jaw-dropping exchanges to keep the Scot at bay.

At this point, the world number 1 quickly upped his level to turn the tables on Murray and force the first break of serve, which the Serbian consolidated emphatically with crushing forehands to close out the opening set 6-3.

The second set was very much even early on as Murray and Djokovic held comfortably for a 2-2 score, but it was the Madrid Masters champion who cracked first once again, visibly frustrated by the defensive skills exhibited by his opponent as Djokovic was beginning to take control of the match. 

A netted backhand by Murray saw the world number 1 gain the upper hand once again with the crucial break, and he quickly consolidated it to extend his advantage. Despite Murray’s best efforts to keep the score tight, he suffered another break of serve to allow Djokovic to establish a two set lead, as an inexplicable overhead miss condemned Murray to a further deficit.

For the first two sets, Djokovic was largely untroubled on his own service games as he used his accurate serving and precise, deep groundstrokes to frustrate Murray and pressurise the Brit in the rallies. 

The Serbian continued his supremacy on serve early on, and at 3-2 had break point opportunities to potentially finish off the Scot in straight sets. This time, Murray dug deep and eventually survived to keep the third set on serve. 

The set appeared to be slowly heading to a tie-break, but in an explosive turn of events, Murray ripped two incredible forehands on his way to breaking Djokovic for the first time in the match to gain the support of the crowd. The world number 1 was clearly affected by the emotion of the crowd towards his opponent, and Murray served out the set 7-5 convincingly to breathe new life into the match.

Djokovic appeared to have regrouped from the disappointment of the third set when he held a 40-0 lead on Murray’s serve early in the fourth set, but Murray once again found a way to escape and quickly punished the Serbian by breaking him to go 2-1 up. 

However, a netted smash at the net from the Scot in the following game proved to be costly as Djokovic immediately responded to break back and surge ahead 3-2. But, the usual clinical Serbian was unable to convert chances to break the Murray serve again, and found himself level at 3-3 when the tournament official decided to suspend play due to the thunderstorms that had been forecast.

Both players will return tomorrow to finally decide which one will have the right to face Stanislas Wawrinka in the final.