79-year British pain

Murray came into Paris having defeated world number one Novak Djokovic in the final of the Rome Masters but under a cloud following the end of his coaching relationship with Amelie Mauresmo.

Since then, Murray has been relatively untroubled, seeing off big-servers Ivo Karlovic and John Isner in straight sets before defeating home hope Richard Gasquet from a set down.

Djokovic defeated Murray in a classic five-set semi-final 12 months ago, but this year they can only meet in the final.

Like Murray, Wawrinka also needed five sets to get through his opener against Lukas Rosol, but has dropped just one set since.

However, Wawrinka insists that Murray is the favorite to win Friday’s clash, even claiming that the Scot is in a different class despite both men having claimed two Grand Slam titles apiece.

“If you were to compare our two careers he’s well ahead of me given all the titles, the finals, number two in the world, and he has so many Masters 1000, as well,” said Wawrinka who was also the 2014 Australian Open champion.