The Scot will now face Berdych in the semi-finals on Friday.
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Andy Murray came through a tough five setter tonight against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga to reach his seventh Wimbledon semi-final, 7-6 (12-10), 6-1, 3-6, 4-6, 6-1.
In the fifth set, Murray displayed some outstanding return skills, breaking for a 2-0 lead after a backhand volley victor.
He found it in the fans.
No. 3-seeded Roger Federer absolutely stole a win from No. 9 seed Marin Cilic, fighting off three match points in a five-set 6-7 (4), 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (9), 6-3 victory.
“Tsonga’s a pretty good player”, Murray said, laughing, during his off-the-court interview with the BBC. The 10th-seeded Czech’s fourth-round match against Jiri Vesely was stopped after four sets on Monday, and he completed the victory on Tuesday.
The British crowd were relaxed at this point as their man looked to be strolling towards the semi-finals and a step closer to a potential second Wimbledon title. That mark includes a sweep at the U.S. Open semis two years ago, though they have never met on Wimbledon grass.
The man he lost to in both of those finals, Novak Djokovic, has been eliminated from Wimbledon.
Tomas Berdych faces Lucas Pouille after that match, with play on both courts starting at 1pm.
He has played Liam Broady, Yen Hsun-Lu and then Aussie duo John Millman and Nick Kyrgios – and with Kyrgios rolling over and accepting defeat, it would be fair to say he hasn’t had a true challenge yet, so it will be interesting to see how he responds to that if Tsonga plays like we all know he can.
“When you get out there, it’s up to you to create an atmosphere a little bit”, Murray said.
“It was a great match”, Murray said later, “and the crowd were unbelievable”. You know, maybe upsets potentially.
Tsonga wins just 26 per cent of first-serve return points, down six per cent on his clay numbers, while on the second serve he wins 45 per cent compared to 48 per cent on clay. But just as it appeared that Murray was going to cruise into the semifinals yet again, his French opponent started to turn things around.
Murray then opened up a 4-2 lead in the fourth set only to lose four games in a row, but crucially he dug in at the start of the decider. Murray, who had yet to drop a set in the tournament, looked well on the way to a swift win when a tense Tsonga double faulted in the fifth game to hand a quick break to the Briton.
“I’d missed a couple of poor shots in that game, especially on the 30-all point”.
Andy Murray wins five consecutive games to start the second set, putting himself in a position to win set point nearly immediately out the gate. “They’re just striving to get better and better, and he’s certainly done that”.
The subsequent tie break was an epic and Murray did exceptionally well to repel the Tsonga onslaught. He also beat the big Frenchman in the 2010 quarterfinals and the 2012 semifinals.
Second up on Centre will be No. 2 Andy Murray, the 2013 champion, facing No. 12 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.
The tears that he was struggling to hold back showed that he does care, and he added: “At times, like I’ve previously said, I don’t love the sport. I’ll need to play well”.
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This test may prove beneficial to Murray’s mental sharpness as he enters the business end of the tournament.
