Murray, the world No2, remains a warm favourite to win his second title here, and that has nothing to do with the absence of Novak Djokovic, the man he beat to lift his first Wimbledon trophy, but who seems to have suffered an emotional and physical collapse after winning his fourth major in a row in Paris in May.
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Tsonga, on fire, broke with a searing backhand victor and served out for two sets all.
Murray didn’t waste his next break point as he forced Tsonga into an overhit forehand to claim his third game of the set.
In the end it was Murray who won the battle of attrition and power after taking an early stride at the start of the fifth set, before recording a 7-6 (10) 6-1 3-6 4-6 6-1 victory.
Berdych lost the 2010 final to eventual victor Rafael Nadal, who accounted for Murray in the semi-finals but is absent from this year’s tournament due to injury.
Federer will face another big-server, Milos Raonic, for a place in Sunday’s final. Seeded at number 12 himself, Tsonga is a risky proposition for the Scot.
Andy Murray warns that he will need to be at his best if he is to beat Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the quarter-finals at Wimbledon. Then, as it starts to get towards the middle part of that set, I’ll start warming up. Not for the first time, they headed to a tie-break.
Murray has never met Berdych at Wimbledon, or indeed on grass, but there is history between the pair – on and off the court.
Thus, Murray’s quest for a second Wimbledon title remains intact. “Tsonga is one of the best grass-court players in the world and he came up with some great shots at big moments”, Murray said. View image | gettyimages.com Murray won the toss but elected to receive first up, meaning he was always serving to stay in the match.
Tsonga, 31, came out firing in the first set.
Murray reached his half-century of wins at SW19 by beating Nick Kyrgios in the fourth round, and his 51st victory saw him draw level with five-time champion Bjorn Borg. “Jo-Wilfried Tsonga played some fantastic tennis in the third and fourth sets but in the end Murray’s just a fitter man. It was a fantastic match”. “It can help to go through games and stages in matches that are challenging”, Murray said.
Pouille, a 32nd-seeded Frenchman, was playing in the quarterfinals of a major tournament for the first time.
Andy Murray let out a guttural roar, made seven of his trademark fist pumps and then quickly reset his sights after a five-set thriller at Wimbledon.
The way he dug deep to subdue Tsonga’s onslaught after surrendering a two-set lead spoke volumes for Murray’s refusal to buckle in the face of adversity – a characteristic exemplified by a formidable 23-7 record in matches that have gone the five-set distance.
Murray raced into the lead in the second set and cruised to a 6-1 win with Tsonga looking dejected from coming so agonisingly close to winning the first set.
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Yet Murray had been in this position many times before, and instead of dropping into a fatal slump he regrouped and fired himself up before his persistence finally paid off.
