Tennis:Andy Murray will face France's Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the semi-finals of Wimbledon on Friday after beating Spaniard David Ferrer in three sets on Centre Court this evening.
Murray reached his fourth consecutive semi-final with a 6-7 7-6 6-4 7-6 victory, following a strong recovery after going a set down.
The British fourth seed thrilled the crowd as he fought back, gradually wearing down tenacious seventh seed after a nail-biting second-set tie-break in which he fell 5-2 behind and saved a set point at 6-5 down before taking it 8-6.
The Scot clinched the third set with an ace before a short rain interruption with the score 5-5 in the fourth and he won the decisive tiebreak 7-4, sealing victory in three hours 52 minutes with another ace.
Tsonga reached a second successive Wimbledon semi-final with a 7-6 4-6 7-6 6-2 win over German Philipp Kohlschreiber.
A relieved Tsonga performed his victory twirl around Court One after breaking Kohlschreiber for the second time in the fourth set to win an engrossing but sometimes scrappy encounter in two hours 48 minutes.
The fifth seed sealed victory on his first match point after rushing to the net and firing a forehand crosscourt winner.
"It was difficult today. Philipp played well, he served well, he was better than me on the baseline, he was very aggressive," Tsonga said. "But I'm through, and I'm happy. It doesn't matter who I play in the semi-final. It's a second chance after last year."
Tsonga, who lost then to Djokovic, will took a while to get into his stride, struggling with his first serve and forehand which went straight into the net more times than he will care to remember. One occasion unfortunately coincided with a huge cheer from Centre Court, where Murray and Ferrer were locked in battle, to the amusement of the watching fans.
For three sets, 27th seed Kohlschreiber was a match for his higher ranked opponent and appeared happy to come into the net or to slug it out from the baseline. The German saved five break points in the third set, three thanks to Tsonga netting forehands, and the final with a delectable backhand volley at the net.
But Tsonga, who had a 5-1 career record against Kohlschreiber, took the tie-break when his opponent netted and that seemed to galvanise the 27-year-old French number one.
He raced through the fourth set, breaking Kohlschreiber for a 3-1 lead and the German sent a forehand long to set up matchpoint for Tsonga.