Andy Murray: Credit to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga for fightback

Andy Murray breathed a huge sigh of relief after an epic quarter-final at Wimbledon when he blew a two-set lead, eventually emerging victorious after nearly four hours of gruelling tennis.

Andy Murray celebrates his victory at Wimbledon yesterday. Picture: Shaun Botterill/Getty Images

“It was a really tough match,” the Scot said of his clash with France’s Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, which saw Murray prevail 7-6, 6-1, 3-6, 4-6, 6-1. “But I just tried to use all of my energy at the start of the fifth set to get myself up, and also get the crowd pumped up.”

“It had been a long day for them,” added the No 2 seed whose Centre Court match followed another five-set quarter final with Roger Federer emerging victorious. “Thankfully I got the early break and managed to hang on it.”

Murray’s match suffered from a lack of atmosphere at the start and he was asked if this had affected the players.

“Obviously the wait is never easy because [Federer’s match] was close to finishing a few times. Towards the end of its fourth set I was warming up again. It was tricky.”

Asked about turning points in the match, Murray said: “Maybe in the third set I played one bad game at 2‑1. That’s probably one of the games I would have liked to have had back.”

But he said credit should go to his opponent. “Tsonga’s a pretty good player. He’s one of the best grass court players in the world and he came up with some great shots, unbelievable passing shots on the run at big moments.

“Credit to him for fighting his way back into the match. That first set was a tough one to lose. I ran away with the second but he fought really hard right to the end and it was a great match.”

The early break in the fifth set had been crucial. “Obviously there’s no tie break so it had to happen at some point if you want to win and thankfully I got it at the start and managed to get the second one. That took a lot of pressure off at the end.”

Murray will play Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic in the last four and said he would need to be at his best to reach the final. “It’ll be very tough,” the Scot said. “He’s been to the final here, he’s beaten [Novak] Djokovic and Federer here so he’s very, very good. He’s won some tough matches this time and will be feeling comfortable on the court and I’ll need to play well.”

Federer came from two sets down to defeat Marin Cilic.