Nadal, Murray advance to semis

PARIS -- Briefly, and only briefly, Rafael Nadal was in a difficult spot in the French Open quarterfinals.

For the first time in this year's tournament, the eight-time champion dropped a set.

And this had to be on Nadal's mind: His opponent, David Ferrer, could present real problems. Not only is Ferrer ranked No. 5, and not only was he the runner-up at Roland Garros a year ago -- to Nadal, of course -- but he also beat Nadal on red clay the last time they played each other.

So how did Nadal handle this test? Perfectly. From late in the second set, he won 10 games in a row, and 13 of 14 the rest of the way, to come back and beat Ferrer 4-6, 6-4, 6-0, 6-1, setting up a semifinal Friday against Wimbledon champion Andy Murray.

"At the beginning," Nadal acknowledged, "David was playing with a higher intensity than me."

But once Nadal made a key adjustment, deciding to dispense with backhands and hit forehands as much as possible, he took over. After committing 28 unforced errors across the first two sets, Nadal had zero in the third and only three in the last.

Ferrer, for his part, said that in the latter stages, "I lost my concentration, my focus."

It was Nadal's 33rd consecutive win at the French Open and improved his record in the event to 64-1.

The route Murray took during his 6-4, 6-1, 4-6, 1-6, 6-0 victory over No. 23 Gael Monfils of France was far more circuitous, finishing right on the cusp of dusk after 9:30 p.m. In front of a Court Philippe Chatrier crowd loudly pulling for Monfils, Murray was terrific at the outset and mediocre in the middle before closing on a high.

After a brief discussion with a tournament official over whether there was enough sun to play the fifth set -- there are no artificial lights on the Roland Garros courts -- Murray made the whole thing moot. He raced through that set in 24 minutes, winning 24 of 31 points, as Monfils appeared to stop trying.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.