Djokovic leads Murray 2-1 as play is suspended overnight

Andy Murray's bid to become the first British man to reach the Roland Garros final in the Open era remains in the balance after rain halted his semi final with Novak Djokovic overnight.

The Scot looked set to lose his first match on clay in 16 outings as the world number one roared into a comfortable two-set lead.

But the British number one surged back by breaking in the 11th game of the third before serving it out to love.

A pulsating encounter full of blockbusting rallies saw both players break at the start of the fourth set before play was halted with Djokovic leading 6-3 6-3 5-7 3-3.

Djokovic, the man who ended nine-times champion Rafa Nadal's reign in the quarter-finals, was never in trouble in the first two sets and did not concede a single break point against a frustrated Murray.

But the Scot, under the watchful eye of coach Amelie Mauresmo, had studied his opponent's tactics.

In the 11th game of the third set, on his first break chance, he perfectly anticipated yet another Djokovic drop shot and slapped away a forehand.

He then held to love to clinch the third set and shake the confidence of Djokovic, who had not conceded a set in the tournament so far.

The Serb then took a lengthy timeout off court and was booed by the crowd when he returned.

In the second game of the fourth set, Murray fell 0-40 down on his serve but after screaming in frustration, he won nine points in a row to move 2-1 ahead having broken Djokovic.

But the world number one broke back and it then went with serve until the interruption.

Murray was hoping to end a seven-match losing streak against Djokovic and become the first British man to reach the final at Roland Garros since Bunny Austin in 1937.

Djokovic is on course to become the eighth man to win all four grand slams.

Play will resume at 12pm BST on Saturday.