In the quarter-finals Gasquet will play second seed Andy Murray, who defeated John Isner 7-6 (11/9) 6-4 6-3.
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In his 13th attempt, Gasquet reached the Roland Garros quarterfinals for the first time sending French fans into a frenzy with a 6-4, 6-2, 4-6, 6-2 victory over the fifth-seeded Nishikori.
Murray has won all four of his previous Grand Slam matches against Gasquet, twice from two sets down, while he has won his last 25 matches against Frenchmen in all Majors dating back to a 2008 loss to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in Australia.
Murray saved three set points in the opening set before extending his career record over the towering American to 6-0 in clinical fashion.
Reigning Champion Stan Wawrinka lit up a gloomy Roland Garros with his lurid day-glo yellow shirt as he reached the French Open quarter-finals with a dazzling 7-6 (5) 6-7 (7) 6-3 6-2 win over Serbia’s Viktor Troicki yesterday. Obviously the atmosphere will be tough but I don’t mind that.
Roger (s) that: Earlier in the day on Court Suzanne Lenglen, American Shelby Rogers brightened the day for the stars and stripes on the red clay, the 23-year-old continuing a Cinderella run here with a 6-3, 6-4 win over seed Irina-Camelia Begu.
Subdued eighth seed Milos Raonic’s French Open came to an abrupt halt when he was swept aside 6-2 6-4 6-4 by Ramos-Vinolas.
“Then I chose to go with the white and it felt better towards the end of the match”.
Murray said: “I’m pumped to be in the quarters of a Slam”.
With the “King of Clay” Rafael Nadal recently pulling out through injury, and Roger Federer not even making the Grand Slam event, this looks like one of the best opportunities for the Brit to clinch the title.
“They can see how the game play is doing, they can see when my balls are too short or they can see when I’m playing too far, and they try and fine-tune that”.
Gasquet, who is 11 months older than Murray, has figured prominently in the 29-year-old Scot’s career.
Nevertheless, the world No 12 said his confidence had been boosted by his performances in Grand Slam tournaments past year.
Speaking after the match Murray pinpointed the first-set tiebreaker as the most critical moment of the meeting.
“Between now and the end of the tournament, they are completely different matches – a lot more rhythm, longer points, you know, more physical matches”. Spanish fourth seed and last year’s Wimbledon runner-up Garbine Muguruza won the last nine games to knock out Belgium’s Yanina Wickmayer 6-3, 6-0.
Ramos-Vinolas, 28, had never passed the second round of any major before this Roland Garros and had failed to win a match at the tournament since 2011.
He said: “I had asked to stop a few points before because, when you’re returning his serve, you have to be very explosive, very quick, and, if you lose traction on your feet, it’s very easy to tweak your groin or something”.
Isner’s interest was piqued in the next game as he threatened to break back and prolong the match, but Murray held firm to move to within a game of the quarter-finals. He’s the number two player, and for good reason.
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He will next play Andy Murray for a place in the semi-finals after the second seed’s straight sets win over John Isner.
