The French crowd let out an involuntary gasp of appreciation as Andy Murray directs a backhand winner down the line with a deft flick of the wrist, just as Jeremy Chardy was sniffing blood in the rally.

Murray 30-15 up. And he then closes out the game with a drop-shot as soft as a princess' mattress.

Check those charts. I think the tide is turning.

Annabel Croft
Former British number one on the BBC Sport website

Image source, Reuters

"Murray has been playing well but it's difficult to get any rhythm going because his opponent is so streaky, and he has some big weapons."

Is that the Jeremy Chardy game starting to revert to type?

The sky-high standard of the last half-hour or so is definitely an outlier rather than the norm and, after lazily clumping an overhead into the net for 15-30, another couple of errors give Murray the game.

Image source, Reuters

And David Ferrer has seen off the challenge of Marin Cilic in impressive fashion to become the fourth man into the quarter-finals.

The seventh seed awaits the winner of this match between Murray and Chardy, and he'll have plenty of energy left after his rapid win.

Uh-oh.

"Play it like Rog" should have been Andy Murray's thought as he sat down at the changover.

Federer just neturalised the threat of a dangerous Frenchman, concentrating on beating Monfils over three sets rather than five after losing the second.

But Chardy is deep, deep in the groove and needs more than a minute sit-down to interupt his flow. Pure backhand gold seals the break.

Image source, AFP

Roger Federer is safely into the quarter-finals with an impressive display in his weather-interrupted fourth-round match.

Resuming today at one set all, the Swiss brushed aside the challenge of France's Gael Monfils.

Federer, the 2009 champion, will face Davis Cup team-mate Stan Wawrinka for a place in the semi-finals.

Piers Newbery
BBC Sport at Roland Garros

"Those five break points for Murray that went begging at the start of the second set look a lot more significant now, with Chardy's confidence growing by the minute. The basics of serve, second shot and smash that were troubling him earlier have clicked into gear.

"Chardy raises his fist towards his player box while Murray troops back to his chair, and this match is going the way of his second against Joao Sousa. Murray squeaked through a tight third set there, he'll hope for something similar now."

Annabel Croft
Former British number one on BBC Radio 5 live sports extra

"That long, long service game at the start of the set, where Chardy managed to come out on top, seemed to set the tone.

"He seemed to get his serve going much better and the set changed dramatically. A very impressive set of tennis but whether he can maintain that level we will have to see."

Jeremy Chardy rolls to 30-0 with one nonchalant backhand bop down the line.

His progress hits a bit of a bump as he fails to scrape the ball off floor after Murray gets a thick net cord.

40-15 and two set points now. Murray saves the first with a forceful forehand out wide, but that flops out.

An hour and 40 on the clock and Chardy has parity. Murray isn't in trouble yet, but he is loitering in the adjacent postcode.

It wasn't pretty. But Murray keeps the spotlight on Jeremy Chardy with a service hold.

Image source, AP

Last year's women's champion Maria Sharapova said she was outplayed and refused to blame a cold for her shock 7-6 (7-3) 6-4 defeat by Lucie Safarova.

"My opponent had a different gear than I did," said the Russian. "I felt like I had small openings but I just wasn't able to play a good few points.

"She was able to do that for a longer period. She took the time away from me, created her angles and I didn't. That was the difference, in my opinion."

She did not use the cold she's been dealing with as an excuse, saying: "I don't like to talk about it, and I don't think it really makes a difference. I'm still a competitor, no matter what."

Oh dearie me.

Andy Murray's drop-shot is so limp that it barely makes the foot of the net on the final point.

A chance gone. Chardy just a hold away. But that can quickly stretch into a yawning chasm in the Frenchman's mind.

He has a few gremlins upstairs. This set isn't cooked just yet.

He lost the first point, but that service game turned out as easy as Sunday morning for Andy Murray.

Very tidy. Time to sharpen the scapel and put some pressure on Chardy on return.

Annabel Croft
Former British number one on BBC Radio 5 live sports extra

Image source, AP

"Chardy has stepped up a level and has the momentum. He is enjoying himself but Murray is absolutely fuming."

Jeremy Chardy's forehand is pretty much all killer, no filler at the moment.

Murray watches one fizz past him in a blur. Time to batten down the hatches and wait for the storm to pass? The downpours of winners tend to be sharp, but short from the Frenchman.

Annabel Croft
Former British number one on BBC Radio 5 live sports extra

"Who saw that coming? It was like when all the play is at one end of the pitch and then a goal is scored at the other end. I didn't see that break of serve coming.

"That has really fired the crowd up now."

Image source, Reuters

"Chardy! Clap, clap, clap." Repeat right up until Andy Murray's ball toss.

The Suzanne Lenglen crowd are all reading off the same page as their man works up 0-30.

Murray puts a can on the brewing hubbub with the next two points, but a brilliant angle gives Chardy his first break point.

And he takes it!

He nails a ripped return off Murray's second serve and somehow - after being out-played for most of the start of the second set - Chardy is a break up in it.

Piers Newbery
BBC Sport at Roland Garros

"They are either with you or against you, quite often within about five seconds. The home crowd loved their man coming through that epic 15-minute game, but then struggle to contain their annoyance when he reverts to double-faulting.

"Fortunately, some late arrivals in the crowd are spotted at a changeover, and there's nothing they love more here than giving those in the posh seats a good old fashioned booing."

Image source, AP

Roger Federer is one set away from another French Open quarter-final. A total of 14 winners in the third set from the second seed, with seven out of 10 points at the net going his way, unsurprisingly.

There is some tectonic-level pressure being applied to the Jeremy Chardy serve.

The Frenchman's wayward volley gives Murray 15-40 and two break points.

They slide south though as Chardy foxes his man with a slower delivery and then a string snaps on Murray's bat on the next.

Chardy makes good an escape from deuce and Murray has failed to covert five break points in this second set.

Is it just a matter of time? Or are they ones that he is going to live to regret?