Djokovic edges out Murray to reach French Open final

World number one Novak Djokovic’s dream of a first French Open title remained alive as he overcame a resilient Andy Murray in their rain-suspended semi-final, winning 6-3, 6-3, 5-7, 5-7, 6-1.

The Serbian Djokovic, who demolished nine-time champion Rafael Nadal in the quarter-final, clinched the opening two sets in impressive fashion before third-seed Murray fought back to win the third.

The two men, both undefeated on clay this year, were locked at three games apiece in the fourth set when the match was halted due to imminent thunderstorms.

When play resumed on Saturday, Murray looked the better of the two.

However, Djokovic, who is aiming to become the eighth man in history to complete the full set of Grand Slam titles, regained his composure to clinch the decider to reach his third final at Roland Garros in four years. 

“It was a very difficult match, I started very well with the right intensity, I was solid and aggressive but then Andy found his confidence back,” Djokovic said.

“Today the first game of the fifth set was very important. Then I broke and I started playing better.”

Djokovic will now take on Stan Wawrinka who beat Jo-Wilfried Tsonga to reach his maiden French Open final with a 6-3, 6-7, 7-6, 6-4 victory.

Tsonga’s hopes of becoming the first Frenchman to win the title since Yannick Noah in 1983 melted away on the hottest day of the championships – with the mercury hitting 33 degrees Celsius – as Wawrinka won the points that mattered.