French Open: Andy Murray, Stanislas Wawrinka set up mouth-watering semi-final after contrasting wins in quarters

World number one Andy Murray shrugged off a sluggish start to reach his fifth French Open semi-final with a 2-6 6-1 7-6(0) 6-1 defeat of Japan's Kei Nishikori on Wednesday. Briton Murray dropped serve twice in the opening set as the gremlins that have dogged his season briefly returned, but he was generally in charge after that against the eighth seed.

Nishikori, who beat Murray in the quarter-finals of last year's U.S. Open, could not sustain his early form and although he courageously forced a third-set tiebreak he lost that 7-0. Murray, runner-up last year to Novak Djokovic, recovered an early break of serve in the fourth set and reeled off the last six games to set up a repeat of last year's semi-final when he produced a dazzling display to beat Stanislas Wawrinka.

Meanwhile, former Roland Garros champion Wawrinka demolished Croatian Marin Cilic 6-3 6-3 6-1 to reach the semi-finals in awe-inspiring fashion. The Swiss third seed broke the big-serving Cilic six times, spraying the court with winners throughout the match to ruthlessly sweep the seventh seed aside. Wawrinka, who lifted the Musketeers Cup in 2015, ended Cilic's ordeal on his first match point with a second-serve ace.