A four-team panel previews and picks the two men’s semifinals on Friday at Roland Garros. Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic are one round away from a blockbuster title match but they first have to get past Andy Murray and Ernests Gulbis, respectively.
(1) Rafael Nadal vs. (7) Andy Murray
Ricky: The good news for Murray is that he played Nadal tough in a recent Rome three-setter, he seems to be well past his back-surgery issues, and he is playing the best clay-court tennis of his career (this is just his second-ever French Open semifinal). Unfortunately, that standard was still barely good enough to survive five-setters against Philipp Kohlschreiber and Gael Monfils. Nadal is not at his dominant best, but he has plenty of momentum after pulverizing Ferrer in the last three sets of their four-set quarterfinal. Since Murray won their first Grand Slam semifinal at the 2008 U.S. Open…
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