Last Tuesday, Andy Murray could not put his backhand to work and he couldn’t stop Fernando Gonzalez’s forehand. The third seeded Briton was knocked out of the French Open by Gonzalez in a 6-3, 3-6, 6-0, 6-4 loss.  

“Some guys can hit huge forehands when they're in the middle the court. Some guys hit huge forehand returns,” described Murray. “He [Gonzalez] can hit his forehand from anywhere on the court.”

Murray added: “I didn't hit my backhand particularly well today, which is normally one of my best shots.”

Gonzalez broke serve to take a 5-3 lead in the first set, hitting Murray with an arsenal of forehand winners.

Gonzalez will now make his first semifinal appearance in the French Open. He finished with 24 forehand winners on the baseline.

“I tried to dominate with my forehand, because I know that Andy (is) bothered a lot when the balls bounce high. He doesn't play on clay much,” said Gonzalez, who will face Robin Soderling in semifinal round. “But I think also I took every chance that he gave me.”

During the second set, Murray took the lead and held the score at one set apiece. But he could not sustain his momentum in the third set, where Gonzalez won 6-0.

“He played a perfect third set,” described Murray. “But I had a long game on my serve. Maybe if I had won that maybe it would have been a bit different.”

In the final set, Murray broke serve to get within striking distance, 5-4. But, again, the Briton could not sustain the momentum.