Andy Murray v Jo-Wilfried Tsonga - as it happened

Andy Murray's quarter-finals against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga will begin immediately after Roger Federer's match against Tomas Berdych on Centre Court. In the meantime, here's a snippet from Jon Henderson's preview , in which he wonders if this could be the year that Wimbledon takes the British No1 to their hearts. On the basis that playing hard to get is one of the best ways to lay the foundation for a deep, meaningful and loving relationship, Andy Murray may be about, finally, to coax the British public into a liaison of Shakespearean intensity. For Antony and Cleopatra, read Andy and Britannia. One of my early memories of reporting on Murray's career was when he played in a Davis Cup tie against Serbia in Glasgow while still a teenager. Affected by illness, he dropped out of the singles and, having played indifferently in the doubles, left his one, indelible mark on the tie: a volley of invective aimed at the match officials as he left the court. On the journey back to London, a Scottish couple provided my inflight entertainment. Their deconstruction of the Murray character as we cruised above the spine of England contained not a single redeeming characteristic. And these were his natural constituents. A year later, the then 19-year-old Murray was briefly an attraction on YouTube. A six-second clip showed him losing a game at the Australian Open, turning to his then coach, the American Brad Gilbert, and giving him an ironic thumbs up while supplying the verbal caption, "Fucking twat." On another occasion he yelled mid-match at Gilbert, "You're giving me nothing." This was a bit rich, seeing that Gilbert – one of the world's most respected and successful coaches – had been gifted to Murray, at considerable cost, by the Lawn Tennis Association in its ongoing, increasingly desperate quest for a British tennis success story. Not long afterwards, the association's irresponsible act of largesse to this already high-earning professional was rewarded by the Scot giving Gilbert the boot. The knocking up: Even the most momentous of Wimbledon upsets cannot upset the schedule. Roger Federer is out but the matches go on and the champion is barely gone from Centre Court when out come Andy Murray and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. The tournament is now wide open for Murray (the champion out; Nadal a set down on Court One). But make no mistake: the tenth-seeded Tsonga is no pushover. This one could go right down to the wire. First set: Tsonga* 1-0 Murray: Jo-Wilfried Tsonga is a big fellow with long limbs, and it takes him a while to get the circulation flowing. He slumps to 0-30, misfiring on all sides before the serve clicks in and has Murray scrambling. First game to the Frenchman. First set: Tsonga 1-1 Murray*: Two games in and it's immediately clear that this will be a contest pitting a great offense against brilliant defense. Tsonga is ripping the ball as hard as he can; Murray is parrying and dodging, sneaking to the net to tap off a volley. He holds to 30. First set: Tsonga* 2-1 Murray: The Frenchman settles down on Centre Court. He holds easily, taking time out to tuck away a neat little volley of his own. First set: Tsonga 2-2 Murray* The Scot jumps to 30-0 and then stutters, hitting one forehand into the net and another past the baseline. But at 40-30 he finds his first ace of the match, a laser-beam out wide to the ad court. First set: Tsonga* 3-2 Murray: The Tsonga forehand is not as obviously explosive as, say, Soderling's or Berdych's. But it is deceptive. The Frenchman hits it with apparent casualness, but it travels through at a terrific speed and catches Murray napping. Tsonga holds to love. First set: Tsonga 3-3 Murray*: Murray replies with a love game of his own. His serve is firing well and on the first point he canters in to scoop up a Tsonga drop shot and dispatch it for a clean winner cross court. First set: Tsonga* 4-3 Murray Both men are holding serve with applomb. Murray goes for his cross-court winner off the drop shot again, but this time Tsonga is ready, coaxing it down the line to take the point on his way to another love service game. First set: Tsonga 4-4 Murray*: Could it be that this one is heading for the tiebreak? Murray holds to 15, hitting his third ace to help his cause. First set: Tsonga* 5-4 Murray: Ah, the journalist's agony of speaking too soon. Until now, Tsonga has been cruising on serve, flexing his arm and soaking up the Centre Court atmosphere as though he does not have a care in the world. Suddenly Murray has him by the throat at break point. Is this the moment for the Andy Murray breakthrough? It is not, not quite. Tsonga hits his way out of trouble, finishing up with an ace that clips the line by a whisker. The linesman calls it out but the Frenchman knows better. It's in. First set: Tsonga 5-5 Murray*: Tsonga opens his shoulders and goes for the lines and now it is Murray's turn to feel the pressure. The crowd turns vocal, urging their man on. Murray responds by driving a volley way out of court. Break point to Tsonga at 30-40. Murray saves it at the net and roars his "C'mon!". He scrambles through with an ace down the T. First set: Tsonga* 6-5 Murray: Tension mounting as the first set builds to a head. At 30-all, Tsonga is forced to stretch and reach, arching his back to put away a smash off a testing lob from Andy Murray. It's enough. He goes on to take the game with another brutish serve, First set: Tsonga 6-6 Murray*: Jo-Wilfried Tsonga looks for the lines but the lines are hiding and his ball can't catch them. Murray holds serve to love to send us ambling merrily to the tiebreak. Now get ready to chew those knuckles to the bone. First set tiebreak: Tsonga 2-2 Murray Murray takes the first point against the Tsonga serve but is then rocked back on his heels by the ferocity of the Frenchman's forehand. Level pegging at the start of the breaker. First set tiebreak: Tsonga 4-2 Murray Murray hits a forehand long to hand the advantage to Tsonga. He has a lot to think about as he changes ends. Tsonga wins the first set tiebreak, seven points to five : The Frenchman surges ahead 6-3 and the seals the deal with a crafty run to the net, followed by a nifty backhand volley that catches Murray running the other way. And there goes the set, the first one that Murray has lost all tournament. Let's look on the bright side: Andy Murray has now been blooded. He'd had it too easy and he needed a tough match to test his mettle. Well, here it is. Here it is with bells on its ankles. Second set: Tsonga leads Murray* 7-6, 0-1: After the exertions of that opening set, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga is perhaps entitled to a brief siesta. He all but closes his eyes and Andy Murray holds to love. Second set: Tsonga* leads Murray 7-6, 0-2: The alarm clock is howling but Tsonga sleeps on. Murray runs to 15-40, two break points, before Tsonga swings an ace out wide that is caught by a woman in the stands. She holds the ball in her hand and gawps at it, as though it is a magical egg that will soon hatch a dragon. She is still gawping as Tsonga claws his way back to deuce and while Murray fashions a third break point. The Scot finally takes the game with a forehand return, sent back low and hard. He roars his pleasure and the woman in the stands stares down at her egg. Still no dragon. Second set: Tsonga leads Murray* 7-6, 0-3: Andy Murray takes his break to the bank, holding to 30 to ease ahead 3-0. "Come on, Mr. Murray!" yells someone in the stands. They are most polite down Wimbledon way. Second set: Tsonga* leads Murray 7-6, 1-3: The Frenchman gets on the second set scoreboard, aided in part by a volley that kisses the net and expires on the court. He has the luck of the Irish, that pesky Frenchman. Second set: Tsonga leads Murray* 7-6, 2-3: Murray's timing deserts him and he leathers a forehand far out of court to fall 15-40 behind. At 30-40, Tsonga takes his chance, slicing a backhand approach and then clobbering a smash to break right back. So we're back on serve in set number two. Second set: Tsonga* leads Murray 7-6, 3-3: Make no mistake: Jo-Wilfried is awake again. He lines up a forehand and then unleashes it in a blur. Murray anticipates correctly but it's too late, it's gone, the ball already popping off the back-netting. Three-all. Second set: Tsonga leads Murray* 7-6, 3-4: Murray stops the rot with a love game, finishing up with a flamboyant slam-dunk smash. But he looks nervous and inhibited out there; the weight of expectation abruptly on his shoulders. He has to shrug it off and play looser, smarter. The second set is drawing towards a climax. Second set: Tsonga* leads Murray 7-6, 4-4: Tsonga holds to 15, pushing Murray onto the back foot with his heavy serving and brutish forehand. Second set: Tsonga leads Murray* 7-6, 4-5: Now that's what Murray needed: an easy game, wrapping up with a fierce, heavy serve to the corner. The Scot noses ahead, five games to four. Second set: Tsonga* leads Murray 7-6, 5-5: You can tell how hard Tsonga is hitting his serves because when he faults and hits into the net, the ball comes off the cord like it's jumping off a trampoline. Most of the time he's not hitting the net. In the meantime, Murray is connecting with some beautiful returns out there, but not enough; not nearly enough. Two more service winners and the Frenchman is ushered through. Second set: Tsonga leads Murray* 7-6, 5-6: The Frenchman is angling to come to the net against the Murray serve. But he's cute when he gets there, twisting and dancing and flicking the ball off into the tape. Murray holds easily. Second set: Tsonga* leads Murray 7-6, 6-6: It's 15-30: a glimmer of hope for battling Andy Murray. But then Tsonga wallops his eighth ace and ninth aces to pull clear again. The second set will be decided just as the first one was: on the tiebreak. Second set tiebreak, Tsonga 2-2 Murray: Murray seizes the early advantage with a glorious return off a Tsonga bazooka. But the Frenchman hits back instantly, nailing a heavy forehand far into the corner. That's effectively the story of this match right there. Second set tiebreak, Tsonga 5-4 Murray: Tsonga gains a mini-break, forcing his way into net and watching as a Murray pass dribbles into the net. Andy Murray's Wimbledon dreams are now officially on a knife edge. Murray wins the second set tiebreak, seven points to five: Turnabout! Turnabout! One moment he was down and very nearly out. The next he was through, in one fell bound. Matches may turn on happy accidents and dumb decisions. Tsonga thinks that Murray's return is going long and leaves it. But it is not out: it lands plum on the baseline. All at once, Andy Murray is back from the dead, with a set point in his pocket. He plays it well and ties the match at one set all. Tsonga* 7-6, 6-7, 1-0 Murray: Full credit to Tsonga. That tiebreak misjudgment must have broken his heart and shredded his confidence. But he holds himself together, just. Murray has him at deuce, but the one-two punch of a double-fisted backhand and a dinked little volley caries him home. Elsewhere, Simon Bale mails with a question related to an earlier post. "Just what is the luck of the Irish? Is it to lose out to a french handball?" Bale, I believe, is referring to AN Other sport here, a sport away from the tennis, though I'm not exactly which one. Is it something horse-related? Tsonga 7-6, 6-7, 1-1 Murray*: Andy Murray holds to 30. Meanwhile, over on Court One, Rafael Nadal leads dangerous Robin Soderling by two sets to one. The Spanish number one is a break up in the fourth. The winner of that match will play the winner of this. Tsonga* 7-6, 6-7, 1-2 Murray: The evidence suggests that Andy Murray, at long last, is starting to read Jo-Wilfried Tsonga's game. During the course of an endless, cat-and-mouse third game he starts teasing the Frenchman with angled passes; foxing him with clever changes of pace. The Scot conjures up one, two, three, four break points. But he can't quite make it pay. Now look: here is break point number five. Tsonga's backhand hits the tape and drops dead on the court, leaving Murray to grope despairingly on the turf. But it is sixth time lucky for the Scot. He rifles a return and then angles a backhand pass. Tsonga gets the ball on his strings but he is off-balance and the volley spins out wide. And with that, Murray has the break. Tsonga 7-6, 6-7, 1-3 Murray*: The Frenchman runs into his backhand corner to belt a forehand winner. It's 15-40: two break-back points. Murray saves both with sharp, clever, industrious play. At game point he chases a ball to the net and then reflexes a volley into the open court. He's having to earn every game, but right now they are all going his way. Tsonga* 7-6, 6-7, 1-4 Murray: Did that second set tiebreak break Tsonga's spirit, or is Murray just playing way better than he did? Probably a little of both. The Scot nails a cruel backhand pass at the body to go ahead with a double break in the pivotal third set. In other news, Rafael Nadal has completed a four set victory over Robin Soderling. The world number one now lies in wait in the semi-final. Tsonga 7-6, 6-7, 1-5 Murray*: Tsonga is unraveling; his game is off-key. When he slices at a backhand, the ball bounces forlornly on his side of the net. Murray holds with a contemptuous ease. Tsonga* 7-6, 6-7, 2-5 Murray: Note to Tsonga: don't slice the backhand. Hit it hard and flat. This has Murray rocking on his heels again, struggling to control his replies. Tsonga holds. Murray wins the third set to lead 6-7, 7-6, 6-2: The shadows are creeping across Centre Court and Murray's game is in and out; sunlight one minute and shadows the next. Tsonga's ball comes zipping out of the darkness and seems to catch him unawares. He's break point down, yet finds his way out of danger, connecting with a sharp first serve on set point to move 2-1 ahead. He is now (oh state the bleeding obvious) just one set away from his second Wimbledon semi-final. Fourth set, Murray leads Tsonga* 6-7, 7-6, 6-2, 1-0: Murray breaks at the top of the fourth set. He breaks out of nowhere. One second Tsonga is 30-0 up. The next he's gone; laced with pin-point passing shots and returns to his feet. The Frenchman walks back the chair, shaking his head at the indignity of it all. Fourth set, Murray* leads Tsonga 6-7, 7-6, 6-2, 2-0: Murray hits one aces, two aces, three aces. Is he about to serve a perfect service game? Not quite. A service winner will have to suffice. Fourth set, Murray leads Tsonga* 6-7, 7-6, 6-2, 3-0: You have the sense that Murray is toying with Tsonga now; making him grope and stretch; bedeviling him with sly little angles. The Scot breaks again. The finish line is now in sight. Fourth set, Murray* leads Tsonga 6-7, 7-6, 6-2, 4-0: Physically, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga is still standing out there on Centre Court. Mentally he's gone. He's complained about a hurt thumb, but the big problem is Murray, who piles on the aces to hold to love and move 4-0 ahead. Tsonga stands at the baseline and shrugs his shoulders. Fourth set, Murray leads Tsonga* 6-7, 7-6, 6-2, 4-1: Game to Tsonga. He's discouraged and he's miserable. But he's not quite done yet. Fourth set, Murray* leads Tsonga 6-7, 7-6, 6-2, 5-1: Andy Murray might as well have Tsonga on a piece of string. He tugs him to the left and he tugs him to the right. The Frenchman is trying hard (for a while there, he wasn't) but the Scot won't set him free. Tug, tug; this way, that. Andy Murray is just one game away. Fourth set, Murray leads Tsonga* 6-7, 7-6, 6-2, 5-2: At 30-40, Murray has match point. Then Tsonga hits out with a last death-or-glory panache. On this occasion, it's glory. He rips a forehand to the corner, a backhand to the corner and wraps up the game with a leap in the air and a smash to the sideline. Murray will have to serve it out. Andy Murray beats Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-7, 7-6, 6-2, 6-2: That's it! Murray is through and British hopes spring eternal. He wraps up the game with what may well be the hardest forehand he's hit all afternoon; a lashing winner from the north-west corner to the south-east corner; a ripping, fighter-jet pass over Centre Court. So Murray advances to a semi-final against Rafael Nadal, leaving Tsonga to rue the niggles of a sore thumb and the horrors of a second set tiebreak he came within a whisker of winning. The epilogue: Andy Murray scraps his way through a torrid, four set struggle over Rafael Nadal in the Wimbledon semi-finals and then eases to victory against a Novak Djokovic (or Tomas Berdych) who is only too happy to play the role of supplicant on the final Sunday. That, at least, is the script as written and all Murray has to do is read it out loud. Now cross fingers, cross toes, he doesn't start improvising ....