Murray, also 29, can become the first British victor of the men’s title since Fred Perry in 1935.
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Usually, just the men’s semi-finals are played on the second Friday but this year all four semi-finals in the men’s and women’s singles are being staged with two on the Philippe Chatrier Court and two uniquely on the Suzanne Lenglen arena. “Why not?” said Muguruza, who lost to Stosur in three sets in Madrid in their only previous meeting two years ago.
Murray, will now be hoping to equal Fred Perry’s victory in 1936.
“I think it was the first time in my career I played a semi-final on (Court Suzanne) Lenglen, it was special”, said Djokovic, who had to play away from the main show court after awful weather wreaked havoc on the tournament’s schedule.
Still on Friday, Murray outplayed defending champion Stan Wawrinka to become the first British man to reach a French Open final since 1937.
I am extremely proud to get there.
But he is one of the in-form players in 2016 with his 41 match wins second only to Djokovic’s 42.
Murray had twice failed to serve out sets against Gasquet on Wednesday so the nerves must have been jangling when Wawrinka forced break point at 5-4, and even more so when umpire Carlos Ramos gave Murray a rare time violation. Murray has an 8-7 head-to-head edge, but Wawrinka owns the last three wins in the series.
But the 29-year-old Serb, who will face Dominic Thiem for a place in the final after the Austrian beat David Goffin of Belgium 4-6, 7-6 (9-7), 6-4, 6-1, came perilously close to being disqualified in the second game of the third set.
The fans, including one dressed as a freakish green-horned dragon, could not be kept away once Murray and Wawrinka came out for their highly anticipated semi-final. But after saving a break point in his opening serve game, Murray immediately broke the Swiss after a brilliant rally ended with his deft drop shot volley.
Djokovic, on the other hand, is playing in his third consecutive final at Roland Garros. The two-time Grand Slam victor fought back and regained his composure though, coming back to take the tie-break and dominating the rest of the way for a 5-7, 7-6 (3), 6-0, 6-2 win.
Wawrinka said of his opponent: “W e didn’t play that much the last few years”.
It was the first time Murray had ever been a set in front in a French Open semi-final, and he is a great front-runner.
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“I’m sure that it’s going to be a final with a lot of emotions and a lot of exchanges from the baseline, because we have similar styles of game”, Djokovic said.
