Murray fights his way into Wimbledon semis after nearly squandering two-set lead

LONDON—Following Roger Federer and Marin Cilic’s epic on Centre Court, Andy Murray overcame a huge challenge from talented Jo-Wilfried Tsonga to win, 7-6 (10), 6-1, 3-6, 4-6, 6-1, in just under four hours.

“Tsonga is a pretty good player,” Murray said. “He’s not bad. He’s one of the best grass-court players in the world. He came out with some great shots, some unbelievable passing shots on some big moments. He started returning better. He mixed it up well. Credit to him for fighting his way back into the match. He played extremely well.”

Murray drew first blood and went up a break, 3-2, in the first set. But Tsonga, notorious for his intensely passionate fighting spirit, got a look at a couple of break chances in the next game. He didn’t convert any, but his commitment was rewarded shortly after, as a break leveled the match at 4-4.

The set went into the tiebreaker with momentum in Tsonga’s favor. The 31-year-old was far more aggressive and earned the first mini-break for a 5-3 advantage.

Though not the flashiest of servers, Murray hit an ace to save the first set point. A huge passing shot saved the second one, despite Tsonga serving and volleying unexpectedly. The Scot got a look at set point, but Tsonga hit a backhand down-the-line winner from a nearly sitting position. Tsonga was playing a bolder brand of tennis, but Murray didn’t let up, staying point for point, and a gritty drop volley sealed the first set 7-6 (12-10).

“Any of these Slams, when you get to the final stages, obviously, you want to play your best tennis and try to win the event,” Murray said.

The 29-year-old had been playing unbeatable tennis up until Wednesday, as he had yet to lose a set, and this was his first tiebreaker. With the momentum firmly back in the world No. 2’s corner, he raced ahead a double break to go up 5-0, squashing some of Tsonga’s spirit.

The world No. 2 led their head to head by a huge margin, 12-2, going into this match, having won their last contest at the 2015 Rogers Cup. But Tsonga wasn’t going to go away quietly.

Tsonga undoubtedly had wear and tear after his five-set, 19-17 victory over John Isner in the third round. But he was the benecificary of some much-needed rest on Monday, when his countryman, Richard Gasquet, retired from their fourth-round match.

Murray didn’t keep his foot on the gas as the start of the third set. Tsonga held for 1-0 to get on the board early.

Not fading away, Tsonga got a break-point chance at 2-1, and a huge inside-out forehand forced Murray to make a costly mistake. Despite Murray’s efforts to break right back—he literally ran past the net post—the Frenchman pulled ahead 4-1.

Looking to finish the third quickly, Tsonga had a set point at 5-2 on Murray’s serve. But the Scot dipped into his service reserve and hit a few big first serves to bail himself out. Staying calm, Tsonga grabbed the second set, 6-3, giving Murray his first lost set of the fortnight.

The Frenchman has come back from two sets to love on a handful of occasions, but doing it against a world No. 2 in front of his home crowd is no simple task. He happened to pull off the feat against Marcos Baghdatis at the French Open in May, and was four for four in five-setters at Wimbledon going into this quarterfinal.

But the Scot started off strong, opening the fourth set with a tough hold after saving break point. Tsonga held right back, but Murray began to get amped up, replacing his often negative energy with positive fist pumps.

Staying on the task at hand, huge serves helped Tsonga hold at love for 2-2. It was discouraging for the Scot to struggle to hold serve as Tsonga continued to rip through his service games. Murray finally held without going to deuce for a 3-2 lead.

Tsonga looked unbeatable on his serve, but he went down 0-40 in the sixth game. He unleashed a bold second serve-and-volley combo, getting away with it thanks to a Murray error. Still, Murray wouldn’t be denied, capitalizing to get a 4-2 lead.

Much like in the first set, Tsonga broke right back despite Murray saving three break points. And now, just like in the third set, Tsonga was back in the driver’s seat as the aggressor, hitting huge forehands and forcing Murray to hit errors. When Murray had his chance again to break, Tsonga ripped a backhand down-the-line winner and eventually held for 4-4.

Tsonga wasn’t going to give the break back. A sizzling forehand winner on the line gave him a break point, and a passing shot winner sealed it. Tsonga won four games in a row to take the set 6-4.

“The end of that fourth set was really tough,” Murray said. “Losing that 4-2 game after breaking, and coming back from 0-40 in that game to lose that set 6-4. was hard. I tried to use all my energy in that fifth set and get the crowd pumped up and use that.”

Tsonga was quite literally painting the lines to get to the fifth set, but Murray was biding his time to pounce.

Like in the fourth, Murray had the preemptive edge of serving first. Murray is a more cautious player, and against a hot Tsonga that’s not enough. He had to save two break points just to get the first game.

The two-time Grand Slam champion would need to put something extra special on the ball to throw Tsonga off the court. And that's just what he did, hitting a huge return and a swinging volley winner to seal the early break 2-0.

He withstood more big serves from the Frenchman, who was making less of his brilliant plays, to go up a double break.

“It’s important to break at some stage in the fifth,” Murray said. “It’s going to have to happen at some point if you want to win. Thankfully I was able to do it early and get the second one, which takes off a lot of pressure.”

Murray should feel nothing but positivity moving forward, since Novak Djokovic—the man who beat him in both major finals this year—was ousted in the third round. There’s also more pressure to win his second Wimbledon title, as he’s now the clear favorite.

Next up he’ll take on Tomas Berdych, who cruised past Lucas Pouille in straight sets.

“He’s been to the final here [in 2010],” Murray said “He’s beaten Djokovic and Federer at Wimbledon. He’s very, very good. He’s won some tough matches here. He had a tough battle in the fourth round against [Jiri] Vesely, so he’s played [a] lot of tennis and he’ll be feeling comfortable. I’ll need to play well.”