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Murray Wins in Five Sets as Wimbledon Beams Murray Survives Close Call in 5 Sets; Djokovic and del Potro Advance
(about 5 hours later)
WIMBLEDON, England — Andy Murray did not want to hear it. He did not want to hear about how his draw got so much easier when Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga were eliminated. He did not want to hear about how he was never going to have a better chance to win Wimbledon. And he certainly did not want to hear about how lucky he was to have unseeded Fernando Verdasco as his quarterfinal opponent. WIMBLEDON, England — Andy Murray did not want to hear it. He did not want to hear about how his draw got so much easier with Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga out. He did not want to hear about how he was never going to have a better chance to win Wimbledon. And he certainly did not want to hear about how lucky he was to have the unseeded Fernando Verdasco as his quarterfinal opponent.
“Verdasco is a very, very good tennis player,” Murray said Monday. “Very good at tennis. He's playing very well this week. He's extremely dangerous when he's on his game. Yeah, that's it. I mean, Verdasco’s a very good tennis player.” “Verdasco is a very, very good tennis player,” Murray, the No. 2 seed, said Monday. “Very good at tennis. He’s playing very well this week. He’s extremely dangerous when he’s on his game.”
If the fans and the news media did not get it then, they certainly did by the time Murray had lost the first two sets of their quarterfinal match Wednesday afternoon. If the British fans and the news media did not get it then, they did by the time Murray lost the first two sets of his quarterfinal against Verdasco on Wednesday afternoon.
But after scolding himself with a “What are you doing?” after the second set, Murray rallied to the delight of the packed Centre Court and the masses on Murray Mount, where there was hardly a patch of grass left to sit on. Verdasco, ranked as high as seventh in 2009, is now 54th. At 29, he had never advanced past the fourth round here before. But he credited a racket switch at the beginning of the grass-court season for improved results, and he had been one of the best servers at Wimbledon.
With their favorite down, the crowd could not contain itself at times, yelling, “Come on, Andy!” in the middle of points and repeatedly being admonished by the chair umpire. Murray struggled with Verdasco’s aggressive left-handed serve, which regularly topped 130 miles an hour and hit the lines.
Murray said he made poor choices in the second set, but won the third easily, then saved four break points in the fourth. He broke Verdasco in the eighth game and then served out the set. Murray double-faulted on set point to lose a tightly fought first set but seemed to get back on track by breaking Verdasco in the third game of the second and took a 3-1 lead.
The fifth was an on-serve duel until the 11th game, when Murray earned the break and then held at love to win the match, 4-6, 3-6, 6-1, 6-4, 7-5. Then things got ugly for Murray and his fans. Verdasco won five straight games, and Murray failed to convert three break-point chances to lose, 6-3. When it was over, Murray was loudly cursing and scolding himself as he sat during the changeover.
Verdasco was ranked as high as seventh in 2009. But now, at 29, he is 54th, the ninth ranked player in Spain. He had never advanced past the fourth round at Wimbledon. “I was up, 3-1, and then made some bad mistakes, poor choices on the court,” Murray said.
“I know how good these players are,” Murray said Wednesday. “It’s everyone else who thinks that they are not.” A few years ago, that might have been the end for Murray, whose emotions so distracted him that he could not right his game. But a more mature Murray, a Murray with a major championship under his belt, did not panic.
He will next play the No. 24 seed, Jerzy Janowicz, who is having his breakthrough moment at this tournament. A 22-year-old from Poland, Janowicz advanced to his first Grand Slam semifinal by defeating his countryman Lukasz Kubot, 7-5, 6-4, 6-4. “When you’ve been in that position a lot of times, you know how to think through it and not get too far ahead of yourself,” Murray said. “I definitely didn’t rush when I went two sets-love down. I slowed myself down, if anything, and that was a good sign.”
The last time Janowicz and Murray played, in the fourth round of the Paris Masters, Janowicz won. But he had a long way to go. With their favorite down, the Centre Court crowd could not contain itself, yelling, “Come on, Andy!” in the middle of points and repeatedly being admonished by the chair umpire. There also was hardly a patch of grass left on Murray Mount, with its big television outside Court No. 1.
Like Murray, Juan Martín del Potro and Novak Djokovic had not lost a set in the tournament going into their quarterfinal matches. On the scoreboard, their straight-sets victories might have looked routine. “I love it when it’s like that,” said Murray, who is trying to become the first British man to win Wimbledon since 1936. “It was extremely noisy. They were right into it pretty much every single point.”
But that is only if you did not see del Potro lying on the court near tears in the first game, his injured left knee being inspected by a doctor when another fall left him close to retiring from the match. He quickly took a 3-0 lead in the third set and this time did not squander it, winning, 6-1. Verdasco said the key to the match was the fourth set, when Murray saved four break points, then converted his first and only break-point chance of the set and went on to win, 6-4.
It was only routine if you did not see Djokovic’s frustration in the first set against Tomas Berdych, or if you did not see Djokovic down by two breaks in the second. The fifth set was an on-serve duel until the 11th game, when Murray earned the break and then held at love to win the match, 4-6, 3-6, 6-1, 6-4, 7-5.
“Maybe when I was younger, you know, I could have lost that match,” Murray said. “But I think I’ve learnt how to come back from tough situations more as I got older.”
He will next play the No. 24 seed Jerzy Janowicz, a big-serving 22-year-old from Poland, who advanced to his first Grand Slam semifinal by defeating his countryman Lukasz Kubot, 7-5, 6-4, 6-4.
Like Murray, Juan Martín del Potro and Novak Djokovic had not lost a set in the tournament going into the quarterfinals. Unlike Murray, they still have not lost a set. On the scoreboard, their straight-sets victories might have looked routine.
But that is only if you did not see del Potro lying on the court in the first game, his injured left knee being inspected by a doctor when another fall left him close to retiring from the match.
It was only routine if you did not see Djokovic down by two breaks in the second set against Tomas Berdych.
Del Potro and Djokovic will meet in the semifinals Friday, but their experiences getting there could hardly have been more different.Del Potro and Djokovic will meet in the semifinals Friday, but their experiences getting there could hardly have been more different.
After defeating the seventh-seeded Berdych, 7-6 (5), 6-4, 6-3, the top-ranked Djokovic is in his 13th consecutive Grand Slam semifinal, and is in the Wimbledon semifinals for the fourth straight year. After defeating the seventh-seeded Berdych, 7-6 (5), 6-4, 6-3, the top-ranked Djokovic said he felt fresh, calm and comfortable as he reached his 13th consecutive Grand Slam semifinal.
After beating fourth-seeded David Ferrer, 6-2, 6-4, 7-6 (5), the No. 8 del Potro is in the Wimbledon semifinals for the first time, advancing with a heavily taped knee after slipping and hyperextending it in his third-round match Saturday.After beating fourth-seeded David Ferrer, 6-2, 6-4, 7-6 (5), the No. 8 del Potro is in the Wimbledon semifinals for the first time, advancing with a heavily taped knee after slipping and hyperextending it in his third-round match Saturday.
He hyperextended the knee again Wednesday in a spectacular fall, needing a medical timeout and anti-inflammatories that he called “magic pills.” He hyperextended the knee again in a spectacular fall Wednesday, needing a medical timeout and anti-inflammatories that he called “magic pills.”
“I was really close to pulling out because I felt a lot of pain,” del Potro said. “I was really close to pulling out because I felt a lot of pain,” del Potro told the BBC.
But he played on because, he said, the quarterfinals of Wimbledon were too important to him and the doctors told him he could play without making the injury worse. But he played on because, he said, the quarterfinals of Wimbledon were too important to him, and the doctors told him he could play without making the injury worse.
In the third game del Potro broke Ferrer, who has also been bothered by an ankle injury. Del Potro said the early service break gave him confidence, and after winning the first set, he did not think about his knee. In the third game, del Potro broke Ferrer, who has been bothered by an ankle injury. Del Potro said the early service break gave him confidence, and he did not think about his knee after winning the first set.
“After the first set, I warmed up,” he said. “I was comfortable with my body to run.” Ferrer struggled with his own serve in the first set, and could not handle del Potro’s serve throughout. Del Potro, who won the 2009 United States Open but has been slowed by injuries since, won 87 percent of his first-serve points.
Ferrer continued to struggle with his first serve, and with the aggressive, efficient del Potro, who won the 2009 United States Open but has struggled with injuries since. Del Potro saved his best for last, perhaps knowing that a long match would not be good for his knee. In the third-set tiebreaker, he gave himself a match point with a blistering cross-court forehand winner. Then he closed out with a running forehand down the line that he called “my best forehand ever.”
Del Potro saved his best for last, perhaps knowing that a long match would not be good for his knee. In the third-set tiebreaker, he gave himself a match point with a blistering cross-court forehand winner. Then he closed out the match by capping a riveting rally with a running forehand down the line. He called it “my best forehand ever.”
Del Potro collapsed — in joy this time — and lay on his back, pumping his fists.Del Potro collapsed — in joy this time — and lay on his back, pumping his fists.
“It’s my first semifinals here, another semifinals in Grand Slam after couple of years,” he said. “I think I’m in the fight again with the top guys. That is my challenge for the future.”“It’s my first semifinals here, another semifinals in Grand Slam after couple of years,” he said. “I think I’m in the fight again with the top guys. That is my challenge for the future.”
Djokovic will certainly pose a formidable challenge in the semifinals for a player who might not be totally healthy. (“I will need to be 100 percent or 110 percent against him,” del Potro said.) Djokovic will certainly pose a formidable challenge for a player who might not be completely healthy. Berdych had opportunities against Djokovic on Wednesday. He was up by 5-4 in the first-set tiebreaker, then made three straight errors to give Djokovic the set.
Berdych had opportunities against Djokovic. He was up by 5-4 in the first-set tiebreaker, then made three straight errors to give Djokovic the set. Berdych went up by two breaks at 3-0 in the second. But Djokovic won the next four games, and the rest of the match seemed routine.
Berdych seemed to bounce back, breaking Djokovic at love in the first game of the second set. He went up two breaks at 3-0, but Djokovic rallied to put the match back on serve at 3-3, and the rest of the match did seem routine.
“You have to play really on the limit, playing really great to have a chance to beat him,” Berdych said. “That was not my case today.”“You have to play really on the limit, playing really great to have a chance to beat him,” Berdych said. “That was not my case today.”
The last time Djokovic and del Potro played here, the bronze medal match of the London Olympics, del Potro won, 7-5, 6-4. That has not been the case for any of Djokovic’s opponents so far.
Like Berdych, del Potro is tall, with a big serve and flat, powerful ground strokes. But Djokovic said he felt physically fresh, calm and comfortable as he goes for his second Wimbledon title.
“Inspiration is out there, you know,” Djokovic said. “Of course you always want to do your best in the Grand Slams.”