“There are no guarantees, regardless of past results,” Murray said as looked forward to taking on the defending champion. “I obviously got asked questions like that a lot when I’d lost a bunch of times in a row to Novak [Djokovic]. I was like: ‘Well, so what?’
“The next time I play against him, that doesn’t mean that I’m going to lose again. It’s a totally different day. Its two individuals and you have to go out and play great tennis to win in the semis of a Slam.
You never know what’s going to happen. I don’t put too much thought into those matches. I lost to Kevin Anderson at the US Open last year, but I’d beaten him a bunch before I played him.”
Wawrinka and Murray have been the two most improved top-level players on clay in the last two years. While Wawrinka has always prospered on clay, it has been only since the start of 2014 that the Swiss has consistently beaten the very best on the surface.
He won his only Masters Series title on clay in Monte Carlo two years ago after facing Roger Federer in the final, and beat Djokovic in the final here last year. He is also on a run of nine successive victories on clay after winning the Geneva Open title before arriving here.
Murray, meanwhile, has not looked back since claiming his first clay-court title in Munich last April, having gone on to win Masters Series tournaments in Madrid and Rome. Djokovic and Rafael Nadal are the only players who have beaten him on the surface in the last two years. Murray is on a winning clay-court streak of 10 matches following his victory in the Rome Masters.
John McEnroe believes this could be the best chance Murray will get to win the title here. “I don’t know if he’s going to be able to keep this up, so to me he has got his best shot ever,” the American said.
Murray, nevertheless, refuses to be drawn into any comparisons with past years. He has, after all, fallen at the semi-final stage here on three previous occasions.
“Last year was similar,” the world No 2 said when asked if he had more belief that he could win the title this year. “I came into the tournament not having lost on the clay and played some really good tennis. I believe I can win the event. Whether I do or not, we'll have to wait and see. But I believe it’s possible and only a couple of matches away now. I’ll just give everything I’ve got.”
He added: “If I was able to make the final here it would be big for me, but I’m here to try and win the tournament, not make the final.”
Although Murray has won eight of his 15 matches against Wawrinka, the Swiss has won their three most recent meetings (Monte Carlo 2013, US Open 2013 and World Tour Finals 2015) and both of their previous matches on clay (Rome 2008 and Monte Carlo 2013).
The Scot is aware how tough a challenge the world No 4 will provide. “In the last two years he has obviously played great tennis,” Murray said. “He’s been at the top of the game now for a number of years and is still improving.
He has been a little bit inconsistent this year, but obviously won the tournament last week and has been playing better with each match here. It will obviously be very tough. He plays well on that court. I’ll have to play great tennis to beat him.”
Stans Wawrinka said he too preferred not to compare how he felt from one year to the next, though he thinks his victory 12 months ago has helped him. “I think it gives me more confidence and less pressure,” he said. “I have a different mentality this year. I’m feeling way better.”
Murray does not expect the continuing cold and damp conditions to favour either player. “At the beginning of the tournament I certainly found the conditions difficult because they were very different to the matches I’d played in Madrid and Rome where, for the most part, it’s a bit quicker,” Murray said. “But now we’ve been playing in these conditions for the whole event, you should have made the adjustments to your game so that it’s not a massive factor when you’re on the court.”
In most of his matches Murray takes on court with him some notes listing particular points to remember. He consulted them regularly during his quarter-final victory over Richard Gasquet.
“I’ve been doing that for two years now in most matches that I play,” he said. “Sometimes I look at it at the change of ends, sometimes I don’t, but it can help if you’re losing your way a little bit because it’s not an easy atmosphere that you’re playing in. It’s just sometimes a question of having something for yourself to concentrate on.”
McEnroe, who will be part of the BBC’s commentary team at Wimbledon next month, is impressed by the work Murray has put in to remain a member of the “Big Four” alongside Federer, Nadal and Djokovic. “The guys he has to deal with are arguably the three greatest guys who ever lived,” McEnroe said.
“There is no question that he has got a lot better. He has had to get better and he has probably made them better. He can take pride in that as somebody who is trying to have a great rivalry. It has been extremely difficult at times and frustrating.”
If Murray beats Wawrinka the likelihood is that he will then face Djokovic in the final, though the world No 1 will first have to dispose of the rapidly rising Austrian, Dominic Thiem. Djokovic is seeking his first French Open title and his 12th Grand Slam trophy in total.
McEnroe said he enjoyed watching “history in the making” as the Big Four have continued to dominate. He added: “It has happened so fast. Pete [Sampras] stopped playing after he got his 14th Grand Slam title at the US Open and the next thing you know Roger is beating him and then Rafa is catching Roger. It’s crazy.
“Now all of a sudden Novak’s on 11. It’s insane how tough these guys are to beat. It’s incredible. Murray could add on a couple and Stan looks like he is pretty dangerous right now. Right now Stan has got the same amount of majors as Andy. You wouldn’t put their overall career record on the same page, but at the same time that’s a pretty good place to be.”
Wawrinka, meanwhile, continues to insist that the Big Four are in a different league to himself. “Now that I’ve won a second Grand Slam, people say I’m closer to him because I have won two and he’s won two as well,” the 31-year-old Swiss said. “But if you were to compare our two careers he’s well ahead of me given all the titles, the finals, the fact that he’s No 2 in the world, and has so many Masters 1000 titles.”
He added: “Andy’s in the Big Four. There is a reason for this. Maybe he has fewer titles than the other big three, but he's always been with them in the semis, in the finals. His career is very, very impressive.”
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