Moaning Murray calls for change in rules over light

An angry Murray was blasted off Suzanne Lenglen Court after failing to get to grips with his opponent's raw power, going down 6-4 7-5 6-3 in two hours and 16 minutes in what was another rain-affected match that did not finish until 9.34pm local time.

And it was both the fading light and the weather which sparked a succession of furious outbursts from Murray, who was unhappy with the condition of the court following a 36-minute delay midway through the match.

"I don't want to make excuses about the match," said Murray, who nevertheless feels players should decide when matches are suspended due to bad light.

"It shouldn't necessarily be down to the supervisor to make the call because he's not the one playing.

"Not every single person's eyesight is as good as another's.

"If one guy doesn't want to play or is finding it hard to see then we should stop.

"You don't normally gain a whole lot by playing an extra 10 minutes or so.

"Maybe just let the players decide if they don't think they can see, they stop. It's only a difference of 10 minutes or so."

The 23-year-old added: "I would have liked to have come off when it was difficult to see. I wasn't the one who complained about it first.

"The balls were gathering a lot of clay. If it's a nice, sunny day, the balls aren't changing colour. The balls aren't brown at the end of the match.

"And it was tough to see at the end."

Murray's frustration repeatedly boiled over on court, the Scot complaining to Cedric Mourier during the rain delay: "The court's wet enough as it is.

"Look at the court rather than the weather."

His mood did not improve when play resumed, screaming, "How are we meant to play when we can't stand on the court?", as well as an expletive before dropping serve at 5-5 in the second set.

That was having broken back before the rain delay.

He said afterwards: "I didn't really get frustrated until the end of the second set. I didn't really say much on court at all.

"I knew against him, you need to expect him to hit a lot of winners, take a lot of chances. You need to try to be solid and stable and make sure that you just hang in there, because you'll get chances.

"I got myself back into it and struggled when we came back out from the rain delay. But he played a good match. He hit a big ball.

"It was very heavy conditions and he was striking the ball really well."

Berdych, whose booming forehand caused Murray all sorts of problems, agreed that the conditions were a problem, saying: "The court was really wet. But it's the same for both of us."

Roger Federer claims he will face a Robin Soderling who has improved since last year's French Open final when they meet again in the last eight on Wednesday.

Federer and Soderling set up a rematch of their 2009 Roland Garros decider by cruising through their respective last-16 matches. Defending champion Federer came through a mid-match wobble to wrap up a 6-3 7-6 (7/5) 6-2 win over fellow Swiss Stanislas Wawrinka on Philippe Chatrier Court, while Soderling followed soon after thanks to an impressive 6-4 6-4 6-2 dismissal of 10th seed Mario Cilic on Suzanne Lenglen Court.

Federer has a daunting 12-0 record against the Swedish fifth seed, beating him at both Wimbledon and the US Open following last year's showdown in Paris.

But the world No 1 believes he may face a tougher Soderling than before.

"I think he's taken advantage of the better ranking he's had since the last year here," Federer said.

"I've never lost against him, so obviously that's a good record to have. But because of the improvements he's made, he's an opponent not to underestimate.

"He beat incredible players on the way to make the finals here last year, so clay seems to also become really his surface of preference, as well."

Soderling did manage to beat his nemesis in an exhibition match when they last squared off in January.

But Federer, 28, warned: "I don't want to downplay or up-play exhibition matches, but they're there to try out a few things."

There was real drama on Philippe Chatrier less than an hour after Federer's win when Jo-Wilfried Tsonga was forced to retire from his match against Mikhail Youzhny through injury.

Eighth seed Tsonga, who was the last remaining French hope in the singles, quit after losing the first set 6-2.

The 25-year-old had been suffering pain related to a recurring back problem.