Andy Murray will face Stan Wawrinka in a must-see semi-final at Roland Garros after battling past eighth seed Kei Nishikori on Wednesday 2-6, 6-1, 7-6(0), 6-1. The Scot overcame a slow start to reach his fourth consecutive Roland Garros semi-final and come within a match of returning to the Roland Garros final, where fell to Novak Djokovic last year.

Wawrinka advanced by beating Croatian Marin Cilic 6-3, 6-3, 6-1. The semi-final will be a rematch of a last-four match-up last year, in which Murray dismissed the 2015 titlist Wawrinka in four sets. The Scot leads their FedEx ATP Head2Head series 10-7 and has won their past two contests, including a round-robin contest at last year’s Nitto ATP Finals in London.

? Instant Replay ?
Les meilleurs moments du 1/4 @andy_murray / @keinishikori, c’est par ici ? ⏯ #RG17 pic.twitter.com/THv1ZGx95C

— Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros) June 7, 2017

“When we played last year, it was similar situation coming in. I think Stan had played really well coming into the match. I had struggled in some of my matches during the event last year, but I played one of my best clay-court matches that day to get the win. I need to do the same again… He’s been playing very well. He’s not dropped a set here,” Murray said. “It’s going to be very tough. But I can learn some things from last year. I’m sure he will, as well, and will try to change some things. Should be an interesting match.”

Two weeks ago, it seemed unlikely that Murray would be enjoying such a run in Paris. The Brit entered Roland Garros 4-4 on the clay but has since reeled off five consecutive victories, including wins against Juan Martin del Potro, #NextGenATP Karen Khachanov and Nishikori. Murray is now 21-7 on the year and looking for his first title since March when he captured the Dubai crown.

“As you get through the matches, you gain in confidence,” Murray said. “I didn’t feel like I played great tennis today. It’s a huge step in the right direction for me. Anyone can win matches when they are playing well. It’s winning when you’re not playing your best that is more impressive. So I’m happy about that… Obviously if someone had offered me a semi-final spot before the tournament, I would have signed up for that because I was not playing well at all. And practice also was not good.”

Murray’s quarter-final, his 11^th FedEx ATP Head2Head meeting against Nishikori, didn’t start off well for the World No. 1, either. Nishikori played nearly perfect for the first 34 minutes, pushing Murray feet behind the baseline and charging the net at every opportunity. Nishikori also seized his court-position advantage, executing drop shot after drop shot to keep Murray off guard.

It was the same strategy that helped him prevail against Murray in the 2016 US Open quarter-finals, the last time the Japanese beat Murray.

But the Brit came alive in the second set and hardly looked back. Earlier in the match, Murray had been warned about spending more than 20 seconds in between points. And as he was mid-toss at 40/40, 1-1 in the second set, chair umpire Carlos Ramos delivered a time violation, which stripped Murray of the chance to hit a first serve.

Murray used the penalty to jumpstart his play. He won the next point and celebrated with a “Let’s go! Come on!” The Scot held that game and then reeled off four consecutive games to even the match as Nishikori looked dejected and struggled to replicate his electric opener.

“Obviously for a couple of points after that I was fired up, because I was frustrated at that moment,” Murray said. “That was a critical period of the match because he started way better than me. He had chances at the beginning of the second as well. And then from there I started to do a bit better.”

In the third set, Murray broke at 5-5 when Nishikori dumped a backhand into the net. The Japanese dropped his head in disappointment but quickly bounced back to force a tie-break. Murray, though, dominated the tie-break, not yielding a single point to take a two-sets-to-one lead.

The fourth set was more like the second set, as Murray was the aggressor and coasted to a return trip to the semi-finals.

“I couldn’t maintain my level, obviously. I was missing a little more in the end than earlier in the match,” Nishikori said. “I think a little bit of rushing too much, too aggressive sometimes. At the same time he was raising his level. So it was tough to play in the end.”

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Dominic Thiem enjoyed one of the biggest wins of his career on Wednesday by defeating Novak Djokovic for the first time in six attempts in their Roland Garros quarter-final. But while the Court Philippe-Chatrier crowd may have been shocked, the outcome was perfectly logical for the Austrian.

“I didn’t play a different game style. I just had a positive winner-error statistic today,” said Thiem. “That’s very important because I think that was never the case against him before.”

The 23 year old has been in top form throughout this tournament, cruising into the final four without the loss of a set. Although the run can already be considered one of the best results of his career, Thiem said his main focus now is avoiding a letdown.

“I have always played a much worse match the following day if I beat a top guy,” said Thiem. “I hope I can improve that.”

.@ThiemDomi downs defending champion Djokovic to reach the #RG17 SFs!
Dominic Thiem fait tomber le champion en titre ! pic.twitter.com/U9iKJWbT7k

— Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros) June 7, 2017

Thiem experienced this the hard way after handing Rafael Nadal his only loss on clay this season in the quarter-finals of the Internazionali BNL d’Italia. Mentally and physically depleted, he came back on court 24 hours later against Djokovic and only won a single game.

This time, the situation was reversed. After defeating Djokovic, Thiem will play Nadal for a chance to reach his first Grand Slam final. Nadal leads their FedEx ATP Head2Head 4-2, but the pair have already played three times this year. Nadal defeated Thiem in the Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell and Mutua Madrid Open finals before Thiem turned the tables in Rome.

With all six of their meetings coming on clay, there will be no surprises for either player when they take the court again on Friday.

“It’s great for me to be in the semi-finals again and defend that [from last year]. The toughest opponent ever here in Roland Garros is coming on Friday, though. It’s going to be the fourth match against him in five or six weeks, so there aren’t any secrets,” said Thiem. “He’s in his best shape. It’s going to be the toughest match you can imagine.”

The Austrian is quickly adapting to his relatively new role as a contender for major titles. Thiem consistently found himself in the final weekend of ATP World Tour 250 events last year, but is now accomplishing this in 500-level and Masters 1000 events in 2017. The breakthrough achievements of last year are now results that he knows he can accomplish.

However, Thiem said that he will need to find another gear if he is win to his first Grand Slam title.

“Everything was a new sensation for me last year. I could only win, basically. I think it was a little bit more difficult this year,” said Thiem. “I wasn’t satisfied with the semis last year, but it was still amazing for me. This year, of course I didn’t expect it, but I wanted to go deep. It’s a very different mindset.

“It’s a joke how tough it is to win a slam,” he added. “I beat Novak. On Friday, it’s Nadal. In the final, there is another top star. That’s why it’s a Grand Slam, because winning one is such a tough achievement.”

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Spaniard Fernando Verdasco and Serbian Nenad Zimonjic advanced to the Roland Garros semi-finals on Wednesday, beating Brazilian Rogerio Dutra Silva and Italian Paolo Lorenzi 7-6(5), 7-5 in one hour and 47 minutes.

The win also moves the 41-year-old Zimonjic closer to a career milestone. The right-hander, who turned 41 on 4 June, now has 698 tour-level doubles wins. If he wins the Roland Garros doubles title, he will celebrate his 700^th doubles match win. Verdasco/Zimonjic will next meet Santiago Gonzalez of Mexico and Donald Young of the U.S.

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Third seed Stan Wawrinka continued his dominance against Marin Cilic in their quarter-final on Wednesday at Roland Garros, cruising into the final four with a convincing 6-3, 6-3, 6-1 triumph. 

Wawrinka improves his FedEx ATP Head2Head with Cilic to 12-2 and has won their past eight matches. The Swiss star has prevailed in all five of their meetings on clay, including a victory at Roland Garros in 2008.

Next up for Wawrinka is top seed Andy Murray or eighth seed Kei Nishikori. Murray leads their FedEx ATP Head2Head 10-7, including a victory last year in their Roland Garros semi-final. Wawrinka and Nishikori are even in their FedEx ATP Head2Head at 4-4. The Japanese star has won their past two matches, including a victory this January in the Brisbane semi-finals.

Wawrinka is through to his third straight Roland Garros semi-final, marking the first time he’s achieved this at a Grand Slam. He has also reached three consecutive Grand Slam semi-finals for the first time in his career. At 32 years, 75 days, Wawrinka is the oldest semi-finalist at this event since Jimmy Connors (32 years, 280 days in 1985).

After a tame start to the clay season that saw him a sport 2-3 record, Wawrinka is on a nine-match win streak on the dirt. He defended his title on home soil in Geneva (d. Zverev), and stormed into the final four at Roland Garros without losing a set. 

More: Thiem Shocks Djokovic

The Swiss star stormed to a 3-0 lead in the opening set and hit three consecutive winners to grab the early advantage. He then fired a forehand return winner to clinch an early break at 1-1 in the second set. Although Cilic managed to level the match at 3-3, the remainder of the contest was one-way traffic. Wawrinka won the next eight games and comfortably closed out the match on his first try, hitting a second-serve ace to end the match in one hour and 40 minutes. 

Go inside the tournament at RolandGarros.com