Can Andy Murray become 1st Briton in 77 years to reach French Open final?

Paris Andy Murray will on Friday attempt to become the first British man in 77 years to reach the French Open final but eighttime champion Rafael Nadal is standing in his wayBunny Austin was the last Briton to get to the mens championship match in 1937 while Fred Perry was the countrys last winner in Paris two years earlier But Murray is making a habit out of shredding the history books his Wimbledon triumph last year ended Britains 77year wait for a mens title winnerAndy MurrayThe 27yearold lost to Nadal at the same stage in Paris in 2011 without winning a set In fact Murray who has 514 career record against Nadal has lost all of his five meetings on clay with the Spaniard Nadal in turn has eight titles in Paris has won 64 matches against just one defeat and is attempting to become the first man to win five Roland Garros crowns in successionDespite the facts and figures stacking up against him Murray believes he has the mental and physical weapons to shatter the Nadal legend Unlike his loss in 2011 Murray is now a twotime Grand Slam title winner himself and his confidence is buoyed by having taken a set off Nadal in Rome last month I obviously know how to win these tournaments now back then I didnt I was trying extremely hard but I had never done it said Murray who has has yet to win a claycourt title and has never made the final on the sports most challenging and wearying surface But he believes that there are cracks albeit small ones in the famed Nadal armour that can be exploited and he saw enough in Rome to justify his confidenceI definitely learned some things in that match It was quite clear in my head as well what was working and what wasnt he said It was obviously different conditions here and a different court different balls When we played in Rome it was extremely cold and wet I have been told its meant to be 25 or 26 degrees on FridayThe weather could play a crucial role with Nadal preferring warm sunny weather which allows him to dictate the pace of the game and the ball Nadal has defied the critics who wondered whether he would make it this far after he suffered his worst season on European clay losing three times in a decade He is wary of the threat posed by Murray Im not impressed by the way hes playing on clay I am not answering in a bad way Im saying in a good way He can play very well on all the surfaces Hes a candidate to win Roland Garros said the 28yearold SpaniardFridays second semifinal sees world number two Novak Djokovic who needs a French Open title to become just the eighth man to complete the career Grand Slam tackle outspoken Latvian Ernests Gulbis who will be playing in his first semifinal at a major Djokovic is playing in his fourth successive French Open semifinal having been runnerup to Nadal in 2012 Gulbis seeded 18 has a 14 losing record against Djokovic with whom he trained in his youth at the Niki Pilic academy in MunichThe 25yearold so long the sports enfant terrible has finally matched up hard work to his undoubted talent and reached the semifinals by knocking out fourthseeded Roger Federer and then sixthseeded Tomas Berdych In 2014 only Nadal has won more matches than the controversial bighitter from Riga He plays really well He has a huge serve that if it goes in it can give him a lot of advantage said Djokovic He knows how to move how to anticipate Hes definitely going to be aggressive and going to go for his shots against me Thats his style