Murray leaves it late to set up last four clash with champ Rafa

Andy Murray will play Rafael Nadal in the semi-finals of the French Open after a remarkable five-set victory over Gael Monfils last night.

Having won the first two sets comfortably, Murray looked destined to advance before Monfils fought back to level the match.

The Scot did not want to start the fifth set with the light fading but ended up winning it in just 24 minutes to clinch a 6-4 6-1 4-6 1-6 6-0 victory.

Murray said: “It was very tough conditions. It was very windy at the start. I started well but when the wind died down he began to play so much better. He’s such an amazing athlete. I was lucky that he started the fifth set badly.”

The Wimbledon champion has only made the semi-finals at Roland Garros once before, losing in straight sets to eight-time champion Nadal in 2011.

“He’s got very good memories on this court,” said Murray. “I’ll need to recover very well but I’m just happy to be in the semi-finals and I’ll try to play my best tennis.”

Nadal himself hit back from a set down to turn his quarter-final against David Ferrer around completely and keep his hopes for a record ninth French Open title alive.

On the day after he turned 28, Nadal was slow to come out of the blocks and deservedly lost his first set at Roland Garros this year as Ferrer nudged in front.

Almost every facet of Nadal’s game was below par at that point, but he awoke from his slumber and struck back in blistering fashion to win 4-6 6-4 6-0 6-1.

In the women’s singles, Andrea Petkovic reached her first grand slam semi-final with a thumping win over former French Open runner-up Sara Errani.

The 26-year-old was a three-time slam quarter-finalist in 2011 and bettered that with a 6-2 6-2 victory over Errani, who lost in the final to Maria Sharapova two years ago.

Petkovic will now meet another first-time slam semi-finalist in Simona Halep, who defeated Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-2 6-2.

Halep’s presence in the last four is not surprising given her remarkable rise over the past year, which began after she lost in the first round at Roland Garros 12 months ago.

Seven titles later the Romanian is the world number four and has not come close to dropping a set on her way to the semi-finals.

Halep said of her performance against Kuznetsova: “It was a perfect day for me. I played really well. I was very aggressive. I played very fast.

“It was a good match, and I’m really happy that now I can play semi-finals in Paris.”