French Open Preview: Memory fails Nishikori ahead of Murray reunion

Kei Nishikori admitted he couldn't remember last year's US Open upset of Andy Murray after booking a quarter-final rematch with the world number one at Roland Garros on Monday.

The Japanese star recovered from a dreadful start to beat veteran Spaniard Fernando Verdasco 0-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-0 in the French Open fourth round to reach a seventh Grand Slam quarter-final.

He will take on Murray for a place in the semi-finals, with the Briton prevailing in eight of their 10 previous meetings.

But Nishikori famously dumped the 2012 US Open champion out in New York last year after rallying from sets to one down. "Sorry that I don't remember much," Nishikori responded when asked of the confidence he could draw from that five-set victory.

"You know when we play it's always a battle," he added.

"Yeah, for sure, it's gonna be a tough one. "We have been playing so many times. He's great player. Very smart tennis player. It's never easy, and I think this week he's been playing well."

"I lost my mind, after 6-0 down I knew I had to change something," said Nishikori.

"I couldn't do anything first set but I tried to play deeper and more aggressive, and little by little I got better today.

"But still it was really, really tough battle. There was so many long rallies, second and third sets. I don't know how I got the second and third," he said.

Meanwhile, the matches of the French Open tennis tournament here were deferred on Tuesday because of rain, disrupting two women's quarter-finals.

The central court was home to the match between Frenchwoman Kristina Mladenovic and Swiss Timea Bacsinszki, when the former lost the first set 4-6, followed by a 1-1 draw in the second set, reports Efe. Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark was leading unseeded 19-year-old Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia 6-4, 2-5 at Suzanne Lenglen Court.

When the two women's quarters are finished, two men's quarter-finals matches are scheduled between Rafael Nadal and Pablo Carreño; and defending champion Novak Djokovic and

Dominic Thiem.