Andy Murray: A tennis musketeer who has mastered the art of clay

The somewhat choosy crowd at Roland Garros like to pick their moments. A bit like Muzza when he is let off the leash in the latter stages of these events.

After largely failing to show up for Serena Williams and her semi-final joust with Kiki Bertens at midday on Friday, the locals apparently appreciate lunch as much as Grand Slam tennis, an assortment of Parisians probably decided to dispense with helpings of foie gras and Sancerre Le Grand Rochoy to slowly but surely shuffle into Philippe Chatrier for the day’s main feast.

What appeared to be a joint decision by the partisan crowd to adopt Stan, a Swiss who was offered more support against Murray in the semi-finals than native Frenchman Richard Gasquet in the quarter-finals, after Wawrinka had lost the first two sets 6-4 6-2 was a compliment to the Scotsman, but by then it was too late. They had backed the wrong form horse.

There was a brief hint of a rattle by an animated Wawrinka when Murray lost concentration on serve in the 10th game of the third set by squandering a 40-15 lead to lose it 6-4, but the writing was already on the wall for Stan the Man, who was bleeding service games in his fluorescent shirt and being read by Murray with more regularity than the The Three Musketeers.

Murray can suddenly lift the Musketeers' Cup that comes along with mastering the art of clay sculpture. Who would have envisaged such a scenario for this tennis musketeer a few years ago?

Certainly not Murray, but titles in Madrid and Rome against the might of Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic over the past year has instilled a belief in his frame that he was also made for sliding.

The swashbuckling Murray is not as aesthetically pleasing as Wawrinka’s awe-inspiring backhand swish, but he is mightily effective in making the extraordinary look ordinary.

It you were offered copious amounts of Moet and Chandon or a sparkling Murray, you would choose to quaff a Scottish vintage every day of the week.

His court coverage was every bit as sharp as Nadal in his prime, especially in defence on Philippe Chatrier. Aligned to his ability to completely anesthetize Wawrinka's foreboding backhand and clubbing forehands, a conundrum Djokovic could not deduce this time last year, it made for a heady concoction.

But what really knocked Stan for six in four sets was Murray’s raw power. One does not normally see Wawrinka beaten for sweltering pace from deep, but he was on this freezing Good Friday in early June.

This was a man who savaged the world’s best player in rising to lift last year’s trophy, but his spirit was simply broken by Murray, a bloke who probably prefers a good long ice bath to losing.

The outgoing French Open champion had intimated before this tête-à-tête that Murray was “well ahead of him” in terms of titles, ranking, pedigree and consistency in the sport.

Despite most commentators and experts in and around Roland Garros giving short shrift to such sentiments by tipping Wawrinka to dismantle Murray in the same brutal manner that did for Djokovic, it turned out that the man from Lausanne was not indulging in mind games.

Not even a bit of it as his mind was left scrambled by the impenetrable moving target on the other side of the net.

All the class, technique, baseline bullets and tennis gold dust sprinkled across the main show court at Roland Garros dripped from the Great Brit's racket.

Both men have two career Grand Slams to their name, but all the winners seemed to fairly spew forth from the Scot. On a chilly Paris day, the watching Rod Laver, the last man to hold all four Grand Slam titles, a feat Djokovic could emulate on Sunday, must have warmed to Murray’s mental athleticism to find angles that poor Stan could not live with.

At one point in the third set with the score at 3-3 and Wawrinka 30-0 up, Stan graciously turned to applaud a thrilling passing shot by Murray that appeared to defy belief. You appreciate class when it is so close to you.

At least the home crowd all made it in time to witness Andy Murray’s finest hour on clay. You can do no more than play your best tennis under extreme heat when left out in the Paris cold with the majority of the crowd supporting the other guy.

This should be regarded as the fourth greatest win of Murray’s career behind his Olympic and Wimbledon successes against Roger Federer and Djokovic in 2012 and 2013 respectively, and his US Open win over Djokovic of four years ago.

In this mood, he has nothing to fear but himself when he confronts his old foe Nole on Sunday afternoon as the first British man to reach this final since Bunny Austin lost to German Henner Henkel in 1937, two years after Fred Perry was champion in the French capital.

History means nothing here. It is who wants history more who will prevail.

The numbers and odds continue to point to Djokovic with his 23-10 lead in career head-to-heads, but it will not be a surprise if Murray has his great adversary's number this time.