PARIS -- While Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal were playing this season's Match of the Century on Court Philippe Chatrier, Andy Murray was engaged in his own nasty little contest a couple hundred yards away.
On Court Suzanne Lenglen, the 28-year-old Scot was grappling with David Ferrer, the scrappy Spaniard, who like the No. 3-seeded Murray was trying to reach his third semifinal here at Roland Garros.
Ultimately, Murray prevailed 7-6 (4), 6-2, 5-7, 6-1 and joined a seriously select list of men who have made three semifinals at all four Grand Slams: Andre Agassi, Roger Federer, Ivan Lendl, Djokovic and Nadal. This is a tribute to the diversity and versatility in Murray's evolving game.
"I think in general experience helps on this surface," Murray said later. "Obviously, this year I've played much better on clay. I understand how I have to play on the clay much more than I have in the past."
Truth be told, his tennis is flourishing on the surface as never before. The victory was his 15th of the year on clay -- against zero defeats. He won the first two clay titles of the year coming in, and now all he has to do is beat Djokovic in Friday's final four, in what will be another widely anticipated match.
"Obviously, I didn't see loads of the [Djokovic-Nadal] match," Murray said. "Yeah, that was always a potential outcome the way Novak's been playing.
"I hope I can win that match on Friday. It's going to be a tough match."
It was the first time Murray has beaten a top-10 ranked player at Roland Garros -- and he earned it. The match went 3 hours, 16 minutes.
Ferrer, meanwhile, departed the draw as another 33-year-old had a day before -- a Swiss champion named Roger Federer. This was Murray's first win ever against Ferrer on clay, after four losses.
Murray's two previous appearances in the semifinals, in 2001 and 2014, were both ruined by Nadal, the nine-time French Open champion. At last, Murray won't have to worry about that happening again.