French Open: Andy Murray takes on Stan Wawrinka in semi-final

Stan Wawrinka (left) beat Andy Murray in their last Grand Slam meeting at the US Open in 2013

Andy Murray believes he can become the first British male to win the French Open since 1935 as he prepares to face Stan Wawrinka in the last four.

Murray, 29, plays the defending champion from Switzerland on Philippe Chatrier after 14:00 BST on Friday.

"I believe I can win the event. It's possible and only a couple of matches away now. I'll just give everything I've got the next few days," he said.

World number one Novak Djokovic plays Dominic Thiem in the other semi-final.

In the women's draw, Serena Williams takes on Kiki Bertens and Garbine Muguruza plays Sam Stosur, with both matches getting under way at 12:00.

Murray seeking to overcome last-four flaw

Murray is seeded to face Novak Djokovic - who beat him in last year's semi-final - in this year's final

British number one Murray has been to the last four at Roland Garros on three previous occasions, losing to Rafael Nadal in 2011 and 2014 and Djokovic in five sets last year.

Murray has won eight out of 15 previous meetings with 31-year-old Wawrinka, but has lost their last three - and all three on clay.

However, Murray has improved significantly on the surface in the past two years and beat Djokovic in the Italian Open final before heading to Paris.

"Stan is obviously playing great tennis," Murray said. "It is going to be extremely difficult [but] hopefully I can play my best tennis and reach my first final here."

Wawrinka pays tribute to Murray

Wawrinka's shoes at Roland Garros include silhouettes of the Australian and French Open trophies

Third seed Wawrinka, who won the tournament last year and the Australian Open in 2014, still feels his career is inferior to Murray's despite matching the Scot's tally of two Grand Slam titles.

"Now that I've won a second Grand Slam people say I'm closer to him," the Swiss said.

"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.

"He's in the 'Big Four' [along with Djokovic, Nadal and Roger Federer]. There is a reason for this. Maybe he has fewer titles than the other three, but he's always been with them during the semis, the finals. His career is very, very impressive."

Murray has racked up 36 titles, compared to Wawrinka's 14.

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