Murray grinds down Ferrer, Federer shines
Murray grinds down Ferrer, Federer shines
Brick by brick, Andy Murray chiselled his way through a
Spanish wall to reach the Wimbledon semi-finals while Roger Federer and
Novak Djokovic simply demolished outclassed opponents on Wednesday to
set up a mouth-watering first meeting on grass.
Murray endured an afternoon of hard labour against
David Ferrer, eventually edging a step closer to becoming Britain's
first male singles finalist at the grasscourt slam since 1938 with a
grinding 6-7 7-6 6-4 7-6 victory.
The fourth seed, who hit back impressively after being a
point away from a two-set deficit, has the added bonus of not having to
face Rafa Nadal in the semi-finals.
With the twice former champion long since departed it
will be the imposing frame of Jo-Wilfried Tsonga standing in his way
after the Frenchman beat German Philipp Kohlschreiber 7-6 4-6 7-6 6-2.
Before Murray's energy-sapping win over seventh seed Ferrer, Federer treated Britain's Prince William, his wife Kate, and a
host of former greats such as Andre Agassi and Rod Laver, to a vintage
display of shot-making to thrash Mikhail Youzhny.
More of a procession than a tennis match, a supreme Federer, bathed in rare shafts of sunshine, won 6-1 6-2 6-2 to record a
14th win in 14 meetings against the unfortunate Russian. Not even words
of comfort from the Royal Box could save Youzhny.
"I asked Andre (Agassi) what I should do," said the
hapless Youzhny who must have been tempted to scratch the word "help"
into the hallowed turf having etched "sorry" into the French Open clay
during a beating by Ferrer last month.
Defending champion Djokovic had a few anxious moments
against Florian Mayer, the second German in the last eight, as he
reacquainted himself with outdoor tennis after playing his three
previous matches under Centre Court's roof.
Once he recovered from an early break, however, the top
seed found his rhythm to claim a dominant 6-4 6-1 6-4 victory.
Federer, who will reclaim the world No. 1 ranking if he
beats Djokovic and goes on to match the seven titles of Pete Sampras,
has never played the Serb on the lawns.
"I'm just happy that I'm around further than I've been
the last couple years," the 16-times major winner, who was stopped in
the quarter-finals in 2010 and 2011, told reporters.
"I'm happy I'm feeling good again. It gives me confidence going into a big match against Novak."
Djokovic, who has conceded just one set so far, said Federer would be a daunting foe.
"Roger has been on the top of the men's game for so
long. This is where he won six titles. He definitely wants to prove
himself and to everybody else that he can win it once again," Djokovic
told reporters after easing to victory on Court One.
ON BRINK
Murray's path to a fourth consecutive semi-final has
been a treacherous one and he teetered on the brink against Ferrer
before producing his best tennis of the tournament.
"I knew it was going to be tough, it was the hardest
match I've played so far," Murray, Britain's equivalent of the lone
ranger each year at Wimbledon, told reporters.
He had been outplayed in the first set, despite forcing
it to a tiebreak, and was in deep trouble in the second as Ferrer,
buzzing around the baseline like wasp at a jam jar, broke in the ninth
game to serve for a two-set lead.
A rare lapse from Ferrer, who beat Murray at the same
stage of the French Open last month, allowed Murray to get into another
tiebreak and after trailing 5-2 he produced courageous tennis to level
the match.
The third set was balanced on a knife edge until the
ninth game when Murray hit a purple patch, breaking serve with
staggering returns before sealing the set with a rasping ace.
Murray saved two break point at 3-4 in the second set
and after a short rain delay, returned to win another tiebreak to the
delight of the 15,000-capacity crowd and hundreds more watching on the
screen named after Tim Henman, who also reached four semi-finals at Wimbledon.
Henman never made it to a final but Murray looks in the
mood to go a step further and even become Britain's first male champion
at the tournament since Fred Perry in 1936.
"The goal now is to win the next match and get to the
final for the first time. I've had a good run over the last few years
but I'm not satisfied with that," Murray said.
"Subconsciously I'm pretty stressed out right now, but I try not to show it."
