PARIS -- He started so promisingly. He really did. Then Richard Gasquet seemed to have a full-blown existential crisis that would've made Sartre proud.
Gasquet had taken the court Wednesday wearing a red, white and blue shirt, the colors of the French flag, for his match against world No. 2 Andy Murray. Through the first two sets they played at the French Open, Gasquet actually had his countrymen at Court Philippe Chatrier believing this might finally be the year the hometown favorite would break through to the semis, perhaps even the final, of the Grand Slam tournament he won as a junior.
The fans were chanting his first name. They roared when he flung himself headfirst after a drop shot and then theatrically lay on the dirt for a moment, flat on his back.
But Murray, who's also been known to have a few "Who am I? Why am I here?" moments during his tortured conversations with himself midmatch, is nothing if not a contrarian. Before this match, the Scotsman said he actually enjoyed being the villain.
Something had to give Wednesday, and as it turned out, it was Gasquet, with a suddenness that was disappointing. After the talented Frenchman lost the second set in a tiebreaker to Murray -- the first tiebreaker Gasquet lost this year -- Murray ran him off the court for a 5-7, 7-6 (3), 6-0, 6-2 win.
Even before it was over, Gasquet's support team sat gloomily in his player's box with their chins in their hands. And the crowd at Chatrier had gone as flat as three-day-old champagne.
"It actually wasn't too bad," Murray said later, shrugging. "I've played in worse atmospheres. ... I believe I can win this event. Whether I do, we'll have to wait and see."
Murray improved to 16-1 in Grand Slams against opponents who were playing in their home countries. By his standards, this was almost a peaceful win. He hectored himself a bit when he was losing, but not as badly as when the crowd booed him several times during his previous match.
It was as if he knew all along that Gasquet would go away if he just gave him a good reason or two. The difference between their resiliency was further underscored more when Murray showed up for his postmatch presser wearing a T-shirt that read "NO EXCUSES. NO APOLOGIES."
"What could I do?" Gasquet protested later when asked repeatedly in English and French why the match turned so abruptly. Then he unspooled a long list of things he said conspired against him: a net-cord point that went against him in the tiebreaker; Murray's spectacular service return ability and the heavy conditions that made it harder for his own serve to be effective.
Gasquet also volunteered that his legs started to go by the fourth set.
In sum, Gasquet concluded with a sigh, "It is tiring and complicated. You have to play all the shots. Today the court was so slow. I have never seen such a slow court. The balls were so big. It's not good for me. ... And he played monstrously."
The fast-closing style of the victory was exactly what Murray needed to keep moving along promisingly toward his semifinal showdown with defending champion Stan Wawrinka on Friday and then a possible encounter with top-ranked Novak Djokovic after that.
Djokovic finally finished his fourth-round match against Roberto Bautista Agut of Spain earlier in the day in a contest that took them three days to complete because of rain.
Djokovic will now have to turn around and play again Thursday in his quarterfinal match against Tomas Berdych. Meanwhile, Murray and Wawrinka get to enjoy a day's rest.
Both Murray and Djokovic are angling for a first French Open title. They are also generally considered the two fittest players on tour. But Murray so far has the decided rest advantage. He and the ninth-seeded Gasquet spent 3 hours, 23 minutes on court, but the last two sets took them only 64 minutes and, for Murray, anyway, they were highly stress-free.
That will change soon. Murray has an 0-3 career record on clay against Wawrinka and an 0-3 record in the French Open semis. But Murray did just beat Djokovic in the Italian Open final and said he has a growing confidence on clay that he didn't necessarily expect to gain now at age 29.
"At this stage of my career, to do something I've never done before is nice, so if I was able to make the final here, it'd be big -- very big for me," Murray said. "But I'm here to try to win the tournament. Not make the final."
No excuses. No apologies.