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PARIS (Reuters) - Andy Murray played with fire before overcoming Argentine Juan Ignacio Chela 7-6 7-5 6-2 to reach the French Open semi-finals for the first time on Wednesday.

The fourth-seeded Briton, who had twisted his ankle in his fourth-round match, recovered from two breaks down in the opener to win the tiebreak 7-2 and blew a 5-2 lead in the second before getting his act together.

Murray will have to improve significantly to stand a chance of booking a place in the final because he now faces world number one Rafa Nadal on Friday after the five-times champion beat Swede Robin Soderling 6-4 6-1 7-6.

(Reporting by Julien Pretot; Editing by Ken Ferris)