Rafael Nadal
The 'King of Clay' Rafael Nadal will be keen to win his fifth straight French Open crown. Getty Images

Rafael Nadal takes on Andy Murray in the second semi-final of the 2014 Roland Garros on Friday at Court Philippe Chatrier in Paris.

Where to Watch Live

The match is set to begin at 3pm BST. Live coverage will be on ITV 1, ITV 4, British Eurosport and British Eurosport 2. Radio commentary, regular updates and live scores are available on Roland Garros' official website.

Overview

Nadal maintained his 100% record at the French Open in the last five years and registered a hard fought victory over his compatriot, David Ferrer in the quarterfinal clash on Wednesday. The World no 1 was handed a shock, 4-6, setback in the opening set; his first in this year's tournament.

But the defending champion bounced back strongly to win the next three sets, 6-4, 6-0, 6-1, to achieve his 22<sup>nd victory in 28 matches against the 32-year-old.

Meanwhile, Murray progressed into the last four only for the second time in his career. The 27-year-old overcame home hopeful, Gael Monfils at this very arena in a five-set thriller lasting over three hours.

The seventh seed raced into a comfortable two-set lead after winning, 6-4, 6-1. But the Frenchman, inspired by the cheers of the home crowd drew level handing the Scot a 4-6, 1-6, reversal in the subsequent sets.

However, 23<sup>rd seeded Monfils did not have any energy up his sleeve as Murray emerged, 6-0, on top in the deciding set.

The Roland Garros title is one of the two major pieces of silverware missing from the British no 1's trophy cabinet. Murray undoubtedly will be keen to prevent the 13-time Grand Slam winner from progressing into his ninth final in the last 10 years of this tournament.

However, the 28-year-old Spaniard remains the tournament's favourite and will be aware of the seventh seed's abilities, given that the two have pitted their skills against each other 19 times in the past.

The winner from this second semi-final clash will meet the winner between world no 2, Novak Djokovic and the 17th ranked underdog Ernests Gulbis.

The first semi-final will take place at the same venue before the game between Nadal and Murray.

Click here to read the preview of the first semi-final between Djokovic and Gulbis.

Head-to-Head

Andy Murray
Andy Murray managed to overcome Gael Monfils after a hard fought battle lasting 195 minutes. Getty Images

Nadal holds a comfortable lead of 14-5 over Murray in overall meetings. The pair have clashed nine times in Grand Slam events where the Spaniard emerged triumphant on seven occasions.

Nadal also holds a 4-1 lead in the last five meetings against Murray.

Roland Garros History

Nadal faced Murray during the semi-final in 2011, en route to lifting his sixth Roland Garros title.

What They Say

Rafael Nadal: "I'm not surprised Andy is in the semi-finals. He's a candidate to win Roland Garros. Before the tournament he was a candidate to win Roland Garros for me, so it's not a surprise. It will be a big match and a big challenge for me. I'm going to try my best. I know I have to play very well if I want to have chances to win. Playing against Andy is a big challenge. It's great to having him back on his top level, playing again the semi-finals of a Grand Slam after an injury. I'm happy for him, because he deserved it."

Andy Murray: "My goals are different and my expectations are different to a lot of people. I expect a lot of myself. I put a lot of pressure on myself to perform well at these events, and thankfully I have done okay so far. There's still hopefully a long way to go in the tournament. I obviously know how to win these tournaments now; [in 2011] I didn't. I was trying extremely hard, but I had never done it. So hopefully that will give me a little bit more confidence and belief when I go on the court on Friday."

Route to Semi-finals

Rafael Nadal

  • First Round: 6-0, 6-3, 6-0 v Robby Ginepri
  • Second Round: 6-2, 6-2, 6-3 v Dominic Thiem
  • Third Round: 6-2, 7-5, 6-2 v Leonardo Mayer
  • Fourth Round: 6-1, 6-2, 6-1 v Dusan Lajovic
  • Quarterfinals: 4-6, 6-4, 6-0, 6-1 v David Ferrer

Andy Murray

  • First Round: 6-1, 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 v Andrey Golubev
  • Second Round: -3, 6-1, 6-3 v Marinko Matosevic
  • Third Round: 3-6, 6-3, 6-3, 4-6, 12-10 v Philipp Kohlschreiber
  • Fourth Round: 6-4, 7-5, 7-6 (3) v Fernando Verdasco
  • Quarterfinals: 6-4, 6-1, 4-6, 1-6, 6-0 v Gael Monfils