In Kyrgios’ first-round match he was cruising against Radek Stepanek, was serving for the match, lost his serve, his cool, his focus and then the set.
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He saved three match points against Croatia’s Marin Cilic and came from two sets down to triumph 6-7, 4-6, 6-3, 7-6, 6-3. He virtually guaranteed the match by taking Tsonga to deuce and then benefitting from a exhausted forehand into the net to snatch another break.
No. 2 Andy Murray plays Jo-Wilifried Tsonga and Tomas Berdych plays Lucas Pouille.
Kyrgios said ahead of the match that it was “love at first sight” with Murray, and the Scot often stands up for his friend when he receives negative press, but not this time.
“I think a lot of people in the locker room now believe they can win it”.
Tsonga’s epic win over Isner lasted two days but the Frenchman was not taxed in his fourth-round match, with countryman Richard Gasquet forced to retire because of a back injury in only the seventh game.
As Murray has alluded to several times, Tsonga is a supreme grass court player and will doubtless pose a threat to the Scot.
Friday’s match throws up a new dynamic as he and 10th seed Berdych have never met on grass. He came up with some great shots.
Murray ranted with himself and umpire Fergus Murphy as he went completely off the boil and Tsonga levelled an increasingly tense quarter-final. If Tsonga hadn’t run out of fuel, it might have happened again.
Slowly but surely Andy Murray is scratching his name alongside the all-time grasscourt greats on Wimbledon’s hallowed lawns.
The 29-year-old is trying to become the first British man to win multiple Wimbledon titles since Fred Perry, who took consecutive titles from 1934 to ’36. The only male player at any Grand Slam tournament with that many is Rafael Nadal, who has won the French Open nine times.
The crowd were still waiting for something to really draw them into the match and the tie-break certainly did that.
Truth be told, Lendl appeared unbearably queasy over the last two sets.
In that time, the 27-year-old has made three straight Wimbledon quarter-finals as well as the semi-finals at last year’s US Open. There was another slice of history for Murray, too. He won here already, he won the Olympic Games, he won the US Open, he has won so many tournaments.
The way he dug deep to subdue Tsonga’s onslaught spoke volumes for Murray’s refusal to buckle in the face of adversity – a characteristic that shows up in a formidable 23-7 record in matches that have gone the five-set distance.
Federer won the third set 6-3 after losing the first two 7-6 (4), 6-4. He started to find the rhythm on his serve and, finally, converted his third set point.
Smith on Tuesday named Murray in his team for next week’s Davis Cup quarter-final against Serbia in Belgrade.
Roger Federer lost in the Wimbledon semifinals for the first time in his career, falling to Milos Raonic 6-3, 6-7 (3), 4-6, 7-5, 6-3 on Centre Court.
Despite Tsonga’s best efforts to come back from two sets down, Andy Murray would take control of the fifth set by winning the first five games. “But that was to his credit for just keeping cranking out serves and big returns”.
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“I’m fully aware of how hard my next opponent is”, Murray said. The end of the fourth set was really tough.
