Wimbledon: Richard Gasquet beats Stan Wawrinka in five-set epic to reach semi-finals
Wednesday 8 July 2015 21:13, UK
Stan Wawrinka's Wimbledon is over after he was beaten 6-4 4-6 3-6 6-4 11-9 in a quarter-final epic.
The French Open champion fought back from a set down and successfully served to stay alive five times in the deciding set before a wayward backhand sealed his fate at the sixth time of asking.
Gasquet now goes through to a second Wimbledon semi-final, where his opponent will be defending champion Novak Djokovic.
After taking the opening set, Gasquet gave away the second in careless fashion, as his two double faults allowed Wawrinka to level the match.
The Swiss player then snatched another break in the third set and forged 2-1 ahead with a forehand winner.
But Gasquet, who reached the last four in 2007, held his own during a series of thrilling rallies and his fourth-seeded opponent produced his first double fault to take the match into a decider.
The two men could not be separated, swapping games amid exciting exchanges, until Wawrinka sent a sliced backhand past the baseline to bring up three match points.
Gasquet spurned two, but eventually sealed a gruelling win when Wawrinka lashed the ball long.
"It was tough and I made some mistakes," said the 21st seed. "He had big confidence after Paris and I had to fight. I really wanted to win."
