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[Clydey]

Andy Murray squeaked into the Quarter-Finals of Wimbledon after a nervous 2-6, 6-3, 6-3, 5-7, 6-3 victory over Stanislas Wawrinka.

Whether it was due to the introduction of the new Centre Court roof or the magnitude of the occasion, Murray started tonight's 4th round match in nervous fashion. By contrast, Wawrinka's form in the opening set looked ominous, as he crushed the Scot's frequent short forehands with a devastating array of powerful groundstrokes. The man from Dunblane soon found himself facing a two break deficit. Wawrinka was playing like a man without a care in the world, swinging freely. Murray's slice, so effective in previous matches, was being treated with disdain by the Swiss. The Scot's inability to put together consecutive first serves also did little to help his cause. Inevitably, Wawrinka served it out to take the opening set 6-2.

Murray was able to steady the ship in what was a tense second set. The Swiss maintained his formidable form, but Murray raised his game in order to compete on even terms. Neither man's serve looked overly secure, however. Wawrinka, in particular, created multiple opportunites. And at 3-3, he had the world number 3 on the brink. However, the Scot was able to hang tough and fashioned a break of his own in the next game with some determined play. By this point the partisan crowd was in a frenzy, as the Scot motioned to them to get on their feet and crank up the volume. They duly obliged, roaring on the home favourite as he served out to even up the match at one set apiece.

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There was a noticeable dip in the Swiss' level at the start of 3rd set. Murray, however, continued with the form he had shown at the end of the 2nd. In many ways it followed the same pattern as the set previous, except it was the world number 3 creating most of the opportunities. And once again the Scot was able to break towards the business end of the set. He then broke once more to add insult to injury, allowing himself to start the 4th set serving. Lesser men would have thrown in the towel, but inexplicably Wawrinka went from strength to strength. He again started to create opportunities on the Murray serve. The Scot appeared to be under almost incessant pressure, fending off one breakpoint after another. He was getting by on sheer determination for the vast majority of the set. His resistance was finally broken in the 11th game of the set, however. Wawrinka finally took one of his countless opportunities as Murray dumped a backhand into the net. The Swiss then served out to setup a nailbiting 5th set.

"Nailbiting" scarcely sums up just how nerve-wracking the final set of this match was. It was back and forth all the way. It was Murray who drew first blood, as he broke to race into a 3-0 lead. The Scot grew careless, however, and allowed the Swiss back into the match. As the match entered what Americans like to calling "winning time", it was Murray's mental fortitude that shone through. He created multiple breakpoint opportunities as he led 4-3. Wawrinka remained rock solid and refused to donate the break. The Swiss was not in a generous mood. Sensing this, the Scot took matters into his own hands, ripping a forehand winner up the line to break. £100 million was nearly laid to waste as the Centre Court crowd attempted to take the roof off. The noise was defeaning. Murray then served out the match nervelessly, before collapsing to the turf, an emotional and physical wreck. If anyone doubts what this tournament means to Murray, they need only look at his reaction at the conclusion of this match.

Murray will hope to recover in time to take on Juan Carlos Ferrero in Wednesday's Quarter-Final.

Murray's comments

It was pretty special, I thought Stan played a great match. The standard he set at the start was tough to keep up with.

He was playing great and he came out with some big shots. In five-set matches there are these momentum shifts sometimes.

It was great, always when you play indoors the atmosphere is great, but when you've got 15,000 supporters it makes it extra special, so thanks a lot.

I'll have a pretty deep sleep tonight after that. After a match like that you take a lot of confidence, it was a great day.

Murray unhappy with roof decision

It was dry when we were warming up outside and I was expecting to play without the roof.

In very few sports would coaches and teams be particularly happy if they don't know exactly what time they're going to kick off or what the conditions are going to be like when they go out there.

When you haven't experienced something before it is tough to know how it's going to play.

I'd never played a grass-court match indoors before and it made a difference.

It's very, very heavy and I was sweating so much. When I finished it was like I'd been in a bath.

Both of us were trying to get white towels from the locker room because your hands were drenched. When I finished it was like I'd been in a bath, it was very, very humid.

It slowed it down a lot and I struggled to serve because it wasn't coming off the strings that quickly. There were a lot more rallies and I got a lot less free points off my serve when it did go in.

You can really swing very hard at the ball and it can go in the net or doesn't really go anywhere.

I like playing indoors and going into the next match I'll know what to expect if the roof comes on.

But for two-and-a-half sets of the match I played great tennis, it's just that it took me a little while to get used to it.

Wawrinka's comments

He's playing very well and I think he's good for the rest of the tournament.

He's ready but you shouldn't forget the other players. Roger Federer is still there and I think it could be a very nice final.

It was a tough match and to lose is very bad for me. I tried everything to win the match but it was not enough.

It was very special, it was a nice atmosphere on Centre Court, with all the fans, and I enjoyed the match a lot but for sure I'm very sad afterwards.

In the second game of the final set he broke me when I was 40-0. I was playing very good, I was in the match and I was hoping to do better in the fifth set.

[Mark]

This match should turn out to help Murray with the rest of his Wimbledon campaign, it was tough to watch but glad his had a real match now.

[Elly]

Oh my gosh, my nerves are shattered.  What a match.  What a leap for Andy.  The emotion at the end was just so raw.  Big, big win.

[Philip]

Thanks for a good write up Clydey.

Andy was playing quite tentative at the beginning and his serve was weak today.  Andy will need to get his serve back in order for the next match otherwise I think he will likely lose.  He needs to conserve his energy for the final.

[Sir Panda]

Heart rate only started lowering 10 mins after the match.

A great battle, one of those nights which makes the Grand Slams special.

[wee mags]

 

well done andy, see you sunday!!!!!! XXXXX

[ljsmall]

I have to admit, his nervy attitude to start tonight really worries me. That was only R4! And  did you see him exhale at MP? I'm not convinced he's mentally ready for this. Slam, yes. Wimbledon, no. Regardless of how this year goes though, next year is his! He'll have a slam by then and be much more relaxed.

[Sir Panda]

I have to admit, his nervy attitude to start tonight really worries me. That was only R4! And  did you see him exhale at MP? I'm not convinced he's mentally ready for this. Slam, yes. Wimbledon, no. Regardless of how this year goes though, next year is his! He'll have a slam by then and be much more relaxed.

If he wasn't mentally ready, he'd have crumbled in the decider. He's ready for this, he just needs to bring his best tennis to the table!