However, Milos Raonic holds the only victory of the year, defeating Roger Federer in January during the final at Brisbane.
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But that’s not all. Raonic failed to reproduce the champagne tennis of the early stages, but nonetheless reasserted his dominance to close out the match and reach his second Wimbledon semifinal.
“It’s beneficial having him [Lendl] there, for sure, because I trust him and have a lot of confidence in him”, said Murray.
This, then, continues to be a golden era that boasts three of the best players ever to pick up a racket: That is the context in which Murray not only thrives but continues to improve.
Quarterfinal matches in the men’s singles competition highlights Wednesday’s play at Wimbledon.
World number two Andy Murray played down the pressure on him to win the Wimbledon title for a second time. He won the Olympic Games. Murray is one of the best returners in the game and even with Tsonga’s big serve, Murray tends to go wide, down the middle and to the left court and he changes his patterns regularly. Two years have passed since I played him here in the semi-finals.
Smith on Tuesday named Murray in his team for next week’s Davis Cup quarter-final against Serbia in Belgrade.
Tsonga, like Murray, was setting national records along the way, too: He now had more Major match-wins than any other Frenchman. “I was trying to find my rhythm in the first set”. If he plays well, and I’m not on my game, I can lose that match for sure.
However, all those expectations appeared to be heading for the dustbin as Cilic stood one point away from victory – not once, not twice, but three times in a pulsating fourth set that had everyone on the edge of their seats. Both players had 3 aces apiece during the opener, as well as owning one break point each.
Tsonga threw everything at his opponent and brought up two set points at 6-4, only for Murray to come up with an ace and then a stunning return off a 129 miles per hour serve.
Both men have come through draining encounters as Berdych was extended to five sets by Jiri Vesely, while Pouille eventually overcame Bernard Tomic 6-4 4-6 3-6 6-4 10-8.
The second set was a one-sided affair, with Tsonga clearly wounded after his opening set trauma.
But the momentum was to switch markedly in the third set.
Tsonga was the first to be able to reach set point opportunity after a 40-30 win in the ninth game. Tsonga started nervously but retrieved an early break and looked poised to take the set when he led 6-4 in the tie-break. He pulled things back to deuce, only for Tsonga to work another chance, and this time he converted: 4-4.
Is it frustrating for him to see Lendl in Murray’s corner?
Murray had been marching through these championships with nearly zen-like serenity before his quarterfinal against the Frenchman and hadn’t dropped a set or lost his serve.
Murray said: “There’s many things that go into winning matches like that”.
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He said: “That’s why it’s important to use the crowd, if you can, to your advantage, because they do make a difference”.
