Andy Murray beats Gael Monfils to reach French Open semis

The Briton let a two-set lead slip but raced through the fifth to win 6-4 6-1 4-6 1-6 6-0 in near darkness at 21:40 local time.Murray goes on to face eight-time champion Rafael Nadal in a repeat of the 2011 semi-final.Nadal fought back to beat fellow Spaniard and fifth seed David Ferrer 4-6 6-4 6-0 6-1."It was a hard match," said Murray."Conditions changed quite a lot during it. It was extremely windy in the beginning, and then it was pretty calm at the end and very slow."It was obviously very cold at the end of the match. He really raised his game in the third set."I thought I played a pretty good third set. The fourth set wasn't my best, but it was a fun match."Murray, 27, had played superbly to move two sets clear on Court Philippe Chatrier, driving Monfils to distraction - and quietening the crowd - with his variety of pace and spin.When the Scot had break points early in the third against a dispirited Monfils, a straight-sets win looked almost inevitable, but the Frenchman clung on.Serving first in the set, Monfils's opportunity arrived at 5-4 when Murray floated a backhand long to fall to 15-40, and when the Briton went long two points later, the Frenchman and his supporters roared as one.Murray had struggled with cramp when taken to five sets over two days in the third round against Philipp Kohlschreiber, and he appeared to be struggling physically again.Monfils, 27, stormed through the fourth set in 30 minutes and it began to look as though only the gathering darkness could stop the 23rd seed.Referee Stefan Fransson came onto court to assess the light and insisted they play on into a fifth set, with Monfils clearly keen to continue."I didn't want to stop the match either," said Murray."I asked what the situation was. It was 21:20. I was told we had 20 minutes left, so, you could potentially play two games, two or three games in that time."Six was the maximum that you could play. I mean, it was so dark at the end."The Wimbledon champion was wobbling badly at 15-30 in the opening game, but Monfils missed an inviting backhand and suddenly all the energy was at the other end of the court.A newly energised Murray rediscovered his attacking intent and leapt on a volley to break for 2-0, punching his fist in celebration, and then hit a spectacular running forehand for 3-0.Monfils had no more to give and the errors began to flow, gifting Murray a second break, and this time it was the Frenchman who was complaining about the light as his hopes of victory disappeared.Murray clambered all over the Monfils serve one last time to earn three match points in game six, and he swatted away the second to seal a remarkable victory after three hours and 15 minutes."It was getting a bit dark, we couldn't see all that well, but I I really wanted to finish tonight because I knew that he was not in great shape," said Monfils."I felt better. Maybe that's why I was a bit rushed in attacking him. I'm very frustrated."(BBC)Bakudaily.az