Share

Murray survives five-set thriller to reach Wimbledon semi-final

Is it that bad?”, before adding: “There’s a lot more hopes than me.

Advertisement

He said: “At the end of the day, today what makes me nervous is really legends of our sport”. It can help to go through games, stages and matches that are challenging so that if you’re in that position in the next couple of matches, you’ve been there. Murray followed up Federer’s heroics by outlasting Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 7-6 (10), 6-1, 3-6, 4-6, 6-1.

Murray will now play Tomas Berdych in the semi-finals; the Czech beat his French rival Lucas Pouille in straight sets 7-6, 6-3, 6-2 and will meet the Scot in the semi-finals on Thursday in what promises to be a cracker of a contest.

Three years have now passed since Murray last won a Grand Slam, and he badly wants another one. He also won the U.S. Open in 2012.

LONDON (AP) – His lead slipping away, Andy Murray needed a little something extra to keep him going in the fifth set. After Tsonga saves set point in the sixth game with a 40-0 win, Murray gives the match an anticlimactic ending by taking the seventh game with a 40-0 win of his own. Not only did Murray lose the third and the fourth, but he also faced a break point in the opening game of the fifth. Murray kept a cool head and claimed the last set 6-1 to move into the semifinals.

The world number two looked set for another comfortable outing on Centre Court when he took the first two sets of their quarter-final but Tsonga fought back to level only for Murray to prevail 7-6 (12/10) 6-1 3-6 4-6 6-1 after three hours and 53 minutes.

“Jo is one of the toughest players to play on the grass but on the other surfaces I’ve managed to play some good matches against him”.

Pouille, a 32nd-seeded Frenchman, was playing in the quarterfinals of a major tournament for the first time. They are the brothers who refuse to watch each other play.

Tsonga had a break point at the start of the fifth as Murray shovelled a forehand into the net, but he slipped mid-rally and Murray snuffed out the danger.

“The end of the fourth set was really tough”, Murray said.

At 34, Federer is the oldest man to reach the semifinals at the All England Club since 39-year-old Ken Rosewall was runner-up in 1974. He will have his hands full in the semifinals on Friday. Murray forced the error to erase the point, then went on to hold to get the fourth set underway.

Murray has a mixed record against Berdych, edging their head-to-head statistics with eight wins and six defeats.

Her world number two husband has yet to drop a set at the tournament and is fully justifying the tag of title favourite he adopted following Novak Djokovic’s shock loss to Sam Querrey.

It was the first Grand Slam he had missed since 1999 and came in a year where he has yet to win a trophy.

Roger Federer still has a chance against Marin Cilic at Wimbledon.

The 2013 champion attacked the Frenchman and got his reward of another break point.

There were two breaks of serve in a ferociously competitive opening set.

“Sometimes you feel when you’re down two sets to love, the mountain to climb is huge, it’s monstrous”.

Advertisement

Cilic, a big-serving Croatian, leads the seven-time champion 7-6 (4), 6-4. Whether it was the dust, the lack of atmosphere or just the long wait while Federer played, he seemed distracted and it took him time to settle.

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga vs Andy Murray: Wimbledon live scores