Murray expects severe test from battling Ferrer at Roland Garros

The world No 4 leads their head-to-head 5-4 but Ferrer – known as the little beast for his fighting qualities on court – has won all three of their previous meetings on clay.

The Spaniard’s consistency, speed and grit are at their most effective on the slowest surface, and Murray is well aware that talk of a semi-final rematch against Rafael Nadal is very premature.

He said: “I think he’s one of the toughest guys to play on any surface. He’s No 6 in the world, and he’s been there for a long time now.

“He’s had a good clay-court season so far.

“I’ve always found it tough against him on clay in matches and in practice. I train with him quite a lot, and I get on very well with him.

“We know each other’s games very well, and he’s one of the best players in the world on any surface, so it’s going to be a tough match.”

Although history is not in Murray’s favour, the pair have not played each other on clay for two years, and since that meeting in Madrid the Scot has won four of their five clashes on hard courts.

“Every match is different,” said Murray. “A lot of the clay courts play differently – quicker, slower. Conditions change things.

“We’ll just see whether having lost to him a few times on the clay before is a factor or not.”

It has been an eventful tournament again for the 25-year-old, mostly centring around the back spasm that troubled him so badly against Jarkko Nieminen in round two.

That was a factor in his slow start against Richard Gasquet on Monday, the Frenchman winning the opening set 6-1, but after edging the second Murray showed off his considerable arsenal of shots, bamboozling his opponent with a series of lobs in particular.

Murray relished being the anti-hero in front of a passionate French crowd, saying afterwards it was the most fun he had had on a court in a long time, and most importantly he is also very happy with his form.

“I feel like I’m playing well,” he said.

“I’m striking the ball cleanly. The tournament has been difficult for a few reasons. But the changing conditions have been tough for all the players.

“It was 33C on the court the other day, and (Monday) it was 14 or 15C and very slow and heavy conditions. So that’s what’s been challenging about it. But I’m playing well.”

Ferrer has never been past the quarter-finals at Roland Garros, losing to Rafael Nadal in 2005 and Gael Monfils on his last appearance in the last eight four years ago, but he has looked in supreme form this week.

In four matches, the 30-year-old has dropped only 25 games and never more than four in a set.

He said: “I don’t know if I’m playing my best tennis, it’s difficult to say that, but of course I am in a good moment. I am playing very good this tournament.

“And also this season. I’m very happy about that.”

Reflecting on his past record against Murray, Ferrer added: “Every match is different and I know to beat Andy I need to play my best tennis. He is very, very good on a clay court and all surfaces.”

In the opposite half of the draw to Murray, Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer were forced to show their battling qualities to reach the semi-finals.

Djokovic put on a stunning display of resolve with a thrilling five-set victory over home favourite Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.

Tsonga, playing in his first quarter-final at Roland Garros, looked out of sorts as he lost the first set in just 21 minutes, but the Frenchman produced a spirited comeback to take the next two sets.

But he then spurned four match points in the fourth set before eventually running out of steam, leaving the world No 1 to clinch a 6-1 5-7 5-7 7-6 (8/6) 6-1 win to set up a semi-final against Federer.

Djokovic was not at his best for large parts of this match, and Tsonga will rue the opportunities he missed, but the Serbian showed exactly why he is ranked No 1 in the world by winning the killer points and holding his nerve while under immense pressure in front of a partisan crowd on Philippe Chatrier.

Federer himself staged an even greater fightback, coming from two sets to love down for the seventh time in his career to defeat Juan Martin Del Potro 3-6 6-7 (4/7) 6-2 6-0 6-3.

For two sets it looked like the 16-times grand slam champion was on his way home, with Federer particularly out of sorts in the opener on a cool and damp Court Suzanne Lenglen.

But Del Potro has been struggling with a left knee injury and, after he edged a very tight second on a tie-break, his movement became gradually worse.

The Argentinian’s decline coincided with a marked improvement from Federer, and in the end the third seed came through the last three sets reasonably comfortably.

Sam Stosur is one win away from a second French Open final after a comfortable quarter-final victory yesterday over Dominika Cibulkova, who likened the Australian’s game to that of a man.

Sixth seed Stosur, who lost to Francesca Schiavone in the showpiece two years ago, was in fine form as she saw off her Slovak opponent 6-4 6-1.

Cibulkova is only 5ft 3ins, and the kick serve and vicious topspin that are Stosur’s trademarks proved too difficult for the 15th seed to counter.

She said: “I started to play much better at the end of the first set, and then I was 1-0 up and 0-40 on her serve. But I have to say that she played unbelievable.

“Her topspin and her serve, I mean, she played like a man, and it’s really hard to play against a man. It was driving me crazy on the court. So it was really, really hard.”

In the last four Stosur will play Italy’s Sara Errani, who beat 10th seed Angelique Kerber 6-3 7-6 (7/2).