Yet he dug in, saved a break point in the first game of the decider, clenched his fists, and cracked an aggressive return of serve followed by a drive volley to go 2-0. You could only enjoy how fired up he was, bounding around and pumping his fists in the air.
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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. It was 8:42 p.m. when they finished. “Missed a ball that was nearly inside the service box”, Murray said.
“I fought, I tried, I believed”, Murray said afterwards. Tsonga started nervously but retrieved an early break and looked poised to take the set when he led 6-4 in the tie-break.
After the memorable Federer exploits there was a danger that Murray’s match against Tsonga might prove a mere footnote.
He said: “My plan is to play and see how I am at the end of this event”.
That was no easy task, given the amount of energy the crowd expended during Wednesday’s first match on Centre Court.
Murray was clearly frustrated with his performance in the third and fourth sets but gathered himself to produce a scintillating display in the final set. “It’s totally understandable that’s going to be the case after a match like that”. The crowd were unbelievable today. “We really focused on not passing up any opportunities to come forward, to always keep the pressure on my opponents, keep them guessing, making them feel uncomfortable…He definitely keeps emphasizing demeanor on court, which I probably would not have put as one of the priorities”. In the fourth set Murray was up 4-2 and ended the set losing the next four games.
I may have been tempted to look at Pouille on the handicap here, but I’m not sure how much he has in the tank after a bruising battle with Bernie Tomic in the last round in which he took a medical time out to have his right foot or ankle strapped up. Having to only play a set and a half in the fourth round will also help, with Richard Gasquet having to retire.
“The prematch stuff, the work that you do in preparation for the matches, is where you get the big benefit”. But, yeah, all in all I thought it was great. “At the end I got it done”.
Semifinal Friday at Wimbledon will feature two of the proverbial “Big 4” in the men’s game.
Finally, Tomas Berdych should be able to get past Lucas Pouille.
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”.
Tsonga left the court for a bathroom break but he must have known how tough it would now be to beat a man he had only got the better of twice in 14 previous meetings, and never from a set down. So that’s how it is. “I know what I’m getting into”, said Federer of the ninth seed, who has been broken just three times in this tournament.
With defending champion Djokovic, who beat him in Melbourne and Paris, a shock third round loser at Wimbledon, Murray is the favourite to capture a third major on Sunday.
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Federer has been clinical thus far at Wimbledon and has yet to drop a set.
