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| No. 2 seed Andy Murray beat No. 3 Stan Wawrinka, the defending champion, 6-4, 6-2, 4-6, 6-2 today to reach his first French Open Final. 2015 photo by Paul Bauman |
1. No. 2 seed Andy Murray topped No. 3 Stan Wawrinka, the defending champion, 6-4, 6-2, 4-6, 6-2 to reach his first French Open final.
Murray became the first British man to advance to the final at Roland Garrros since Bunny Austin in 1937 and the 10th man in the Open era, which began in 1968, to gain the final at all four Grand Slam tournaments.
Murray, a two-time Grand Slam champion, will face top-ranked Novak Djokovic in Sunday's final (6 a.m. PDT on NBC). Djokovic, seeking to become the eighth man to achieve a career Grand Slam in singles, dismissed No. 13 seed Dominic Thiem of Austria 6-2, 6-1, 6-4.
Djokovic is 23-10 lifetime against Murray, who won the last meeting 6-3, 6-3 in the Italian Open final three weeks ago. But Djokovic was coming off tough matches against Kei Nishikori in the semifinals and Rafael Nadal in the quarterfinals and playing with a bruised ankle.
Murray is one week older than Djokovic; they turned 29 last month.
Murray went undefeated in two appearances in the now-defunct SAP Open in San Jose, Calif., winning his first career ATP World Tour title there 10 years ago at 18 and repeating in 2007.
2. No. 1 seed Serena Williams and No. 4 Garbine Muguruza will meet for the title on Saturday (6 a.m. on NBC) in a rematch of last year's Wimbledon final, which Williams won 6-4, 6-4.
Williams, battling a thigh injury, downed unseeded Kiki Bertens, playing with an injured lower left leg, 7-6 (7), 6-4 to end the Dutchwoman's winning streak at 12 matches. Williams saved a set point in the first set.
Muguruza beat No. 21 seed Samantha Storsur of Australia 6-2, 6-4.
Williams will attempt to win her 22nd Grand Slam singles title, which would tie Steffi Graf for second all time behind Margaret Court with 24, and Muguruza her first.
Williams, 34, is 3-1 against Muguruza, 22, but in their only meeting on clay, Muguruza romped 6-2, 6-2 in the second round of the 2014 French Open.
Muguruza could become the second Spanish woman to win the title at Roland Garros. International Tennis Hall of Famer Arantxa Sanchez Vicario triumphed in 1989, 1994 and 1998.
Both Williams and Muguruza have won titles in the Bank of the West Classic at Stanford. Williams prevailed in singles in 2011, 2012 and 2014, and Muguruza in women's doubles with countrywoman Carla Suarez Navarro in 2014.
3. No. 5 seeds Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan, 38-year-old former Stanford stars, reached their second consecutive French Open men's doubles final with a 7-5, 6-1 victory over No. 9 Lukasz Kubot of Poland and Alexander Peya of Austria.
The Bryans will face No. 15 Feliciano Lopez and Marc Lopez (no relation) of Spain in Saturday's final. Feliciano Lopez, a 34-year-old left-hander, and Marc Lopez, 33, eliminated No. 3 seeds and defending champions Ivan Dodig of Croatia and Marcelo Melo of Brazil 6-2, 3-6, 7-5.
The Bryans have won a record 16 Grand Slam men's doubles titles, including the French Open in 2003 and 2013, but none since the 2014 U.S. Open.
Lopez and Lopez, who saved six match points in the quarterfinal win over 2014 champions Julien Benneteau and Edouard Roger-Vasselin of France, will try to become the first Spanish team to win the men's doubles title at Roland Garros since Sergio Casal and Emilio Sanchez in 1990.
Neither Lopez has won a Grand Slam title, although Marc has been in two men's doubles finals with countryman Marcel Granollers, including the 2014 French Open.
4. Fifth-seeded Caroline Garcia and Kristina Mladenovic became the first French team to reach the women's doubles final at Roland Garros since Gail Chanfreau and Francoise Durr won their second straight title 45 years ago in 1971.
Garcia and Mladenovic beat unseeded Margarita Gasparyan and Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia 6-4, 4-6, 6-3. In the other semifinal, seventh seeds and 2013 champions Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina of Russia downed unseeded Barbora Krejcikova and Katerina Siniakova of the Czech Republic 6-4 6-2.
Krejcikova and Siniakova, both 20, had ousted three seeded teams: No. 16 Chang Chia-Jung and Hsieh Su-Wei of Taiwan in the first round, No. 1 Martina Hingis of Switzerland and Sania Mirza of India in the third round and No. 6 and 2011 champions Andrea Hlavakova and Lucie Hradecka of the Czech Republic in the quarterfinals.
Hsieh won the 2014 title with Peng Shuai of China.
5. Unseeded Hingis and Leander Paes of India completed a career Grand Slam in mixed doubles with a 4-6, 6-4 [10-8] victory over second-seeded Mirza of India and Ivan Dodig of Croatia.
Hingis, a 35-year-old Hall of Famer, has won 22 Grand Slam titles (five in singles, 12 in women's doubles and five in mixed doubles) despite retiring twice because of injuries and a two-year suspension for cocaine use. Her last three major women's doubles crowns have come with Mirza.
Paes, a 42-year-old future Hall of Famer, has won 18 Grand Slam championships (eight in men's doubles and 10 in mixed doubles).
Both Hingis and Paes are tied for 11th all time in total major titles. They also own career Grand Slams in men's and women's doubles, respectively.
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