ANDY Murray’s quest for a first Grand Slam came to an end as he was beaten by David Ferrer in the French Open quarter-finals. The number four ranked Scot produced too many careless errors to mount a sustained challenge and he eventually went down 6-4 6-7 (3-7) 6-3 6-2. Murray’s forehand continually broke down against the more consistent Ferrer, who is the world number six. Ferrer will play fellow Spaniard Rafael Nadal in the last four. “He had his chances and converted them,” said Murray. “He’s solid and consistent and if you don’t convert opportunities against him, the games become longer and the pressure builds on you. “But it was a good tournament for me. I felt better coming in this year than I did last year. I lost to a better clay court player. There are things to work on but I knew it would be a tough match.” As impressive as the stubborn and solid play of Ferrer was, Murray will be left to rue and regret the amount of unforced errors on his part, which amounted to 59. While Murray’s endeavour and spirit could not be questioned, too many of his forehand strokes found the net at crucial times to allow Ferrer to gain the upper hand. The Scot’s frustrations were voiced in some angry baseline mutterings as he was denied reaching a sixth successive Grand Slam semi-final and second consecutive last-four appearance at Roland Garros. Murray grimaced and grabbed at his left side at points during the match as he showed signs of hip and back injuries which have troubled him in previous rounds. How much impact that had on his game against the relentless Ferrer is questionable, although it could put doubt on whether he plays in the Aegon Championships at Queen’s Club starting on Monday as he prepares for Wimbledon. Whatever Murray’s injuries, what will be be more painful is that he had the chances to beat Ferrer as he worked himself into some promising situations only to lack the final execution. He had lost the last three meetings against Ferrer on clay, with the last of those in 2010. But Murray has improved on the Paris surface since then and immediately carried more of a threat this time around. His heavy hitting early on helped him engineer two break points in the third game but he netted on both occasions as the opportunities passed him by. His failure to seize the initiative was punished as Ferrer broke the British number one’s serve in the next game, during which Murray showed the first signs of discomfort in his back and hip. Ferrer’s expertise and experience on clay made him a slight favourite over his higher-ranked opponent and the Spaniard needed his qualities to withstand four more break points to go 5-2 up. Ferrer wobbled when serving for the set and a long forehand resulted in the Scot breaking back, only for Murray to waste that good work as he failed to hold his serve in the next game and lose the opening set after a gruelling and grinding 66 minutes. The Scot twice failed to consolidate breaks of serve in the second set as Ferrer refused to buckle with his consistent and controlled play. Murray, though, continued to persevere and got his reward when he won a tie-break - courtesy of Ferrer sending a forehand wide - to level the match after another arduous set of 66 minutes. It was the first set that Ferrer had lost in the tournament and, after a rain delay briefly forced the players off court, the Spaniard was the quicker to get back on track. Murray lost his concentration and his serve after the restart and he went on to lose the set by letting a 30-0 advantage slip on his own serve. And, despite breaking Ferrer in the first game of the fourth set, he again let a 30-0 lead slip as he was broken straight back.Rafael Nadal winsDefending champion Rafael Nadal crushed fellow Spaniard Nicolas Almagro 7-6 6-2 6-3 to reach the semi-finals of the French Open. The second seed - bidding for a seventh Roland Garros title this week - extended his career record to 8-0 against the 12th seed, but he was made to work a little harder than the score suggests.Ferrer’s triumph over Murray set up an all-Spanish showdown against six-time French Open champion Nadal in the semi-finals.
