Wimbledon 2010 - Murray wins his way to the semi-final
The British Number 1 Andy Murray defeated the French Jo Wilfred Tsonga in the quarter-finals on Wednesday. This is the second time Murray has reached the Wimbledon semi-final and looks in top form this year. Murray beat the French on Centre Court in a four set epic encounter 6-7, 7-6, 6-2 and 6-2. The match between the two continued for two hours and 48 minutes and ended with a stunning shot played by Murray.
The first set went against the Scot as Tsonga won the set after a thrilling fight. As the first set started Tsonga quickly started dominating Murray, but the Scot kept his nerves and started playing his natural game. The Scot took an early lead in game one of the set after hitting a backhand volley near the line. Tsonga jumped back in the next game and started serving some heavy serves in the Centre Court. Murray tried to hold back the French but in the end failed after he double faulted at break point. After 26 minutes in the opening game both the players levelled the score at 4-4. Murray received an opportunity to win game 9 of the first set after Tsonga lost control on the ball and awarded break point to Murray. The Scot failed to return the ball back to Tsonga and missed his chance at break point. Tsonga soon earned himself a chance and he came storming back on Murray with powerful forehand shots and lead the set 5-4. Murray fired his fifth ace of the match and again levelled the score 5-5. Pressure started to shift on both players as they moved towards game 11 of the first set. In the end Tsonga grasped victory in the first set of the match and led the scorecard with one set to his name.
Murray started the second set comfortably but again was not able to stop the French. Tsonga moved swiftly in the court and threw some heavy shots towards Murray. The Briton again fell 4-2 down in the second set and waited for the opportunity make a comeback in the game. The Briton played an amazing game and levelled the score 4-4in the second set. The match kept on going as both players played some stunning shot in the court. Murray with a help of a forehand winner sealed the second set 7-6 and levelled the sets 1-1. At that point it became difficult to predict who would win the next set. The momentum in the third set shifted towards Murray as Tsonga tired from his previous sets with hitting a shot wide and provided opportunity to the Scot. The Scot broke once again in the next game and took the lead to 4-1. Tsonga won the next game of the following set and closed the lead to 4-2. Murray closed the third set in game eight after the break point he thrashed a cross court forehand for a point.
With Briton leading the set 2-1 the fourth set looked vital for the French to win in order to stay in the match. Andy Murray immediately took control of the fourth set and went to a 4-0 lead. The tiring Tsonga was helpless against a raging opponent and failed to stop his powerful serves. Tsonga did made a late return in the match after he won the next set and closed the lead 4-1. Murray kept his dominant serve in the game eight of the set leading with 5-2 against the French. Murray comfortably served out of the match and sealed a place in the semi-finals of a Grand Slam for the fourth time.
The Scot will have a tough competition when he plays against world number one Rafael Nadal in Friday's semi-finals. The Briton last year was out matched by Andy Roddick’s in the semi-final and this year he hopes to win his way through to the final.
Tags: