The French Open is now only two steps away from knowing this edition's emperor. The last four stages will have two epic battles to display. The first one will oppose Andy Murray and Stan Wawrinka while the other one will feature Rafael Nadal and Dominic Thiem. If the second one seems just a battle for survival for the young Austrian, the first rubber is presenting no sure bet. Either Murray or Wawrinka could make it into the final act.
The world no. 1 has been struggling lately with form and a series of mixed results on the clay court. Even so, without delivering some of his best tennis he is in the semis of the French Open for the second time in a row and will face another clay court glory seeker.
Last year, Murray vs Wawrinka was also the subject of one of the semis in Paris. That one had Murray pulling out the winning card only to lose in the final to Novak Djokovic. On the other side, Stan Wawrinka is playing his third consecutive semifinal at Roland Garros. The winner of 2015 edition, Wawrinka is showing another great form when it comes to playing in a Grand Slam tournament.
Andy Murray topped Nishikori in the previous round
For Andy Murray, the French Open remains a stage where he is yet to prevail. Back in 2016, he reached for the very first time the final at Roland Garros in what was a dream run that only Djokovic was able to stop it. Now that the Serb is out from the tournament, Murray could face Rafael Nadal in the final.
It would be the first time they would face each other in a Grand Slam final.
There's been a lot of talking about his form during the clay court swing. Without any substantial result on this surface lately, he was not included amongst the favorite. Even so, floating under the radar, he was able to survive up to this point. In the previous round, he got past Kei Nishikori after being a set down.
Stan Wawrinka is gathering momentum
The Swiss tennis star is having one of those moments when everything seems to work just fine. He got past Marin Cilic in the quarterfinal without having any doubt. Overall, his run throughout this tournament has been pretty much close to perfection. Now, the odds put him in front of Andy Murray.
Two weeks ago, when the draw came out their names were those catching the eyes. Now, the possibility has been turned into a certain fact. Their head to head stats put Murray in front by 10-7. As in 2016, their clash will provide the name of the first finalist of 2017 French Open.
