British hopes at Wimbledon are still alive after Andy Murray battled back from the brink to beat Richard Gasquet in a five-set epic.
Home favourite reaches last eight
British hopes at Wimbledon are still alive after Andy Murray battled back from the brink to beat Richard Gasquet in a five-set epic on Centre Court.
The Scot looked down and out when his French opponent served for the match at 5-4 in the third set but an incredible turn of events saw him claim an unforgettable 5-7 3-6 7-6 (7/3) 6-2 6-4 triumph late on Monday evening.
He will now meet second seed Rafael Nadal of Spain in the quarter-finals on Wednesday.
Murray made a disappointing start when he lost a highly competitive first set which ended with Gasquet really turning on the style.
The British number one was required to save two break points in the eighth game but despite some impressive defensive play, the increasing pressure finally told when trailing 6-5.
The Frenchman produced an array of powerful groundstrokes to put Murray on the ropes and he clinched the set when the British number one put a volley just wide into the tramlines.
Bad to worse
It went from bad to worse for Murray when he was broken again in his opening service game in the second set as Gasquet continued to revel in the momentum to keep the Centre Court crowd quiet.
The next six games went with serve and although Murray dug deep to save three set points while trailing 5-3, Gasquet eventually finished it off with a clinical volley at the net.
Fans packed on 'Murray Mount' were beginning to head for an early exit as Gasquet simply looked far too strong for the home favourite on this occasion and any game he did win looked a real struggle.
While level at 2-2, Murray was put under more pressure on his own serve and had to come from 15-40 down to force deuce. After throwing away a game point of his own, he found the gutsy reserves to defend another three break points before finally clinging on to lead 3-2.
In the ninth game Gasquet continued to run Murray ragged and the Scot had to save two more break points to salvage deuce. However the Frenchman finally pounced on his third attempt after more stunning tennis resulted in a backhand cross-court winner.
Murray then produced some rare magic to carve out three break points at 0-40 and although the first two disappeared, he then took advantage of a Gasquet double-fault as the home crowd erupted.
Fightback begins
Both players then held serve and it was now down to grit and guts in the tie-break. Murray showed he had plenty of both as he took it 7-3, thanks to a breathtaking backhand winner down the line from almost off the court to claw his way back into the match.
All of a sudden it was game on as the Scottish sensation stunned the rattled Frenchman with some cracking winners.
With the light fading out on court he broke twice in the fourth set to take it 6-2 and square what was becoming an epic encounter.
In a long opening game to the fifth set, Murray eventually broke when killing off a lengthly rally with a volley at the net and now Gasquet was hinting about the problems of the darkness.
Murray then fought hard to save a break point in the next to move into a commanding 2-0 lead in the decider and the patriotic crowd were roaring him towards the finish line.
The following four games went with serve as the tension on this thrilling Monday night of drama reached breaking point.
In an epic seventh game Murray spurned several glorious opportunities to break as Gasquet, well and truly on the ropes, just about managed to survive and hold serve.
However the Scot didn't waste his chance when serving for the match at 5-4 and successfully booked a last eight meeting with Nadal.
