But Swiss Stanislas Wawrinka, the French Open champion, let the side down.
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For Jamie this is uncharted territory as he had never previously made it past the third round at the All England Club before. “He won the doubles past year and he can play well on the surface”.
Richard Gasquet falls to the ground in relief after winning his marathon fifth set against Stan Wawrinka. I know I’ll have my hands full and I have to go out there and play to the best of my abilities. He has finished only one match in less than five sets.
Looming on the other half of the draw is defending champion Novak Djokovic, who swept Marin Cilic 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 to reach the Wimbledon semifinals for the sixth straight year.
Djokovic, who won Wimbledon in 2011 and 2014, plays No. 21 Richard Gasquet of France next.
Roddick told the BBC that Murray can ill afford to repeat the 64 per cent first-serve level produced against Pospisil when facing Federer.
The lapse occurred when the great Swiss was serving at 5-4 in the second set, but he struck back immediately before holding once more to take a commanding two-sets-to-love lead.
“The stop-and-goes are never easy, but I think I used them to my advantage”, said Federer after the match. “I had a couple physical issues, as well, which I have to look into right now”, Pospisil said.
Before last night, Gasquet had lost 15 of his 16 most recent clashes against top-10 players.
“Of course, anytime somebody gives you a violation, it’s going to have some kind of effect”.
“I was actually quite calm after that match”.
“But I don’t think those matches in the past will have too much bearing on the outcome on Friday”.
Andy Murray will look to revive the spirit of the summer of 2012 as he bids to make the Wimbledon final for the third time.
The Frasers both reached the singles semifinals and the doubles semifinals, with different partners.
So seriously did the Scot take this year’s event that he declined to enter the mixed.
Friday’s other semifinal will pit seven-time champion Roger Federer against 2013 victor Andy Murray.
Pospisil lost to Andy Murray in three sets of their quarter-final match on a wet Wednesday, with the Canadian going out 6-4, 7-5, 6-4 after an exhausting 10 days of grass-court tennis.
His imperious form in southwest London so far this year suggests only a performance of true magnitude will deny him that acclaim. Federer is 9-0 at that stage at the All England Club.
Failing to serve out the second set at 5-4 wasn’t an issue for Federer – who had won 116 consecutive service games, dating back to the first round of the German grass-court tournament where he triumphed last month. At the start of the second set, Wawrinka turned that tactic against his foe, hitting a low slice and coaxing a loopy forehand error from the Frenchman to break for 2-0.
The rain breaks did not distract Murray.
By then Pospisil was taking his time between points on his own serve, recuperating from the long, draining rallies he was coerced into playing.
Play in the men’s quarterfinals at Wimbledon has been suspended again because of rain.
Murray pressed hard in the third set but Pospisil did not crack and even when Murray served for the match at 5-4 Pospisil earned his first break point of the match.
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With David Beckham, Prince William and his wife Kate among numerous celebrities packed onto Centre Court, the two-time Grand Slam champion was barely tested. The first violation brought him a warning and the second was punished by the loss of his second serve, which prompted the Centre Court crowd to show their displeasure with an admittedly polite chorus of booing. Tennis great and six-time Wimbledon singles champion Billie Jean King also sat in the Royal Box.
