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.
Advertisement
The Brit will contest a 20th grand slam semi-final, one more than Stefan Edberg and John McEnroe, when he faces Czech 10th seed Tomas Berdych.
“I definitely felt like I got lucky to some extent today”. Came up with that return, the match changed from there.
“We’ve never played on grass before, so I’ll have to have a look and see some of his matches to get an idea of things he does differently, what his strengths are, maybe some of the things he struggles with a bit”.
Obviously it was a tough match. “He knows were to position on the court and when to move forward”, said the American. I played well against him the last couple of years.
The crunch moments arrived at the start of the fifth set. Tsonga was the first to be able to reach set point opportunity after a 40-30 win in the ninth game. The Frenchman promptly lost five games in a row before finally holding for 1-5. That was a great match. “I did that today”. From two sets to love up, Tsonga’s tennis was blazing.
Murray, the 2013 champion, won the first two sets 7-6 (10), 6-1, but Tsonga responded by winning the next two 6-3, 6-4.
But Murray came up with an ace and a stunning return off a 129 miles per hour serve before taking his fourth chance.
But breaking serve early in the third gave the 12th seed belief that a comeback to rival the one he managed against Roger Federer at the same stage in 2011 was possible. Berdych ousted 32 seeded Frenchman Lucas Pouille 7-6(4), 6-3, 6-2 earlier in the day to book his final four spot.
Murray was relaxed speaking about the drama that surrounded their Melbourne episode, as well as the attendant fallout and his long and varied history with Berdych, with whom he is again friends. He was serving well.
“I think it was working pretty well for myself”. He was mixing the pace up, playing with a lot of variety, coming forward, hitting his forehand big. Immediately after the match, he had such detailed thoughts on these actions, talking about attempting to arouse the crowd that was a little exhausted after the day of epic theatre. He screamed in the match something like, “I am not losing this”, and then he didn’t.
“I think that’s the difference with him, I would say the beginning of his career and now”. Murray’s opponent, Tomas Berdych, approached his Czech compatriot about a potential coaching role after he had split with the Scot the first time around in 2014. A grand slam semi-final is tense enough and when you throw that into the equation, it wasn’t great. “I didn’t love tennis, I was just good at it and Andre Agassi said the same thing”. I’ve done a good job of it so far.
He recovered to produce a decent run at Roland Garros, where he lost to Djokovic in the quarterfinals, and he’s back in the Wimbledon semifinal for the first time in six years. And he dispels the notion that there is any residual animosity between himself and Berdych, although it has taken time to heal the wounds.
“It’s not that bad, is it”, he responded with a smile.
Advertisement
“I think Berdych doesn’t like sliced backhands a lot”. “So, for sure, he can help when I’m on the court a little bit, just his presence”. They then played the first few games of the first set in a half-empty stadium.
