Agence France-Presse
London, July 7: Andy Murray survived a five-set rollercoaster to defeat battling Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 7-6 (12/10), 6-1, 3-6, 4-6, 6-1 and reach his
seventh Wimbledon semifinal in a match that ended late night, Wednesday.
Second seed Murray, the 2013 champion at the All England Club, will now face Czech 10th seed Tomas Berdych, Friday in what will be his 20th semifinal at the Majors. It was 29-year-old Murray’s 13th win in 15 matches against Tsonga and his 100th career grass court win.
But like Roger Federer, who came back from two sets down to beat Marin Cilic earlier in the day on Centre Court, Murray did it the hard way.
Having looked in cruise control after two sets, he lost his way against the big-serving Tsonga, who was chasing a third appearance in the semifinals.
Murray rallied impressively in the decider, screaming out to his box ‘there’s no way I’m losing this match’ before making good on his rallying call.
“It was a tough match. Tsonga is one of the best grass court players in the world and he came up with some great shots at big moments,” Murray said after emerging
victorious.
“I just tried to use all my energy at the start of the fifth set to get myself pumped up and thankfully I got the early break and managed to hang onto it,” added the Brit.
Murray has an 8-6 record against Berdych who made the 2010 final at Wimbledon. But they have never played on grass.
“It will be a very tough match (against Berdych). He has been to the final here, beaten Djokovic and Federer at Wimbledon and is very very good,” pointed out Murray.
