Murray scrapes past Fognini, joins Nadal in Wimbledon fourth round

Abundant sunshine has been the theme of Wimbledon’s first week, to the extent that the Centre Court roof has not once been closed. It was one point away from being forced to do so on Friday evening–because of darkness; not rain.

But Andy Murray had other ideas.

Murray saved five set points in the fourth and avoided being extended to a decider thanks to a 6-2, 4-6, 6-1, 7-5 victory over Fabio Fognini. The top-ranked Scot broke serve seven times and recovered from a 5-2 deficit in the fourth to prevail after two hours and 39 minutes. It ended just before 9:00 p.m., moments before the Jo-Wilfried Tsonga vs. Sam Querrey match on Court 2 was suspended with Querrey ahead 6-5 in the fifth (on serve).

“Right now I don’t feel really happy, but I’m really, really happy about my performance, my tennis,” Fognini commented. “Because most of the time when I was playing…it was better than him. But when I went 5-2 up in the fourth he [started] playing really [well]. Nothing to say. Right now of course I’m not happy, but remember he’s No. 1 in the world. Most of the time I was playing better than him. That’s the sport.”

“Ultimately it worked out great in that respect,” Murray said of finishing before a roof closure became necessary. “It was obviously great to come back there and finish it at the end. It was actually quite dark. It was really dark.”

Following a three-set women’s tilt between Victoria Azarenka and Heather Watson on Centre Court, Rafael Nadal helped speed up the process with a straight-set win over Karen Khachanov. Not too much unlike Fognini, Khachanov had opportunities to make things even more competitive than they turned out to be–only to see those chances fall by the wayside. Nadal fought off a set point at 5-6, 30-40 in the third before crossing the finish line 6-1, 6-4, 7-6(3) in two hours and 15 minutes.

“For a set and a half I was playing fantastic,” Nadal reflected, “then little bit worse. But in general terms (I was playing)very well; very happy.”

“It’s a great experience,” Khachanov assured. “I played in Roland Garros also against Andy on center court. Now here in Wimbledon. It’s nice to play on these kind of courts against the best players. That’s what I’m really working to and really happy to be [in] that moment.”

Next up for Nadal is Gilles Muller, while Murray will go up against Benoit Paire on the second Monday. The Spaniard is 4-1 lifetime against Muller but lost to Luxembourgian at Wimbledon in 2005.

“He’s one of the toughest opponents possible–on this surface, especially,” Nadal said. “Probably (this) is his best surface, without a doubt. He has a great serve, a great volley…. Yeah, he’s a tough, tough opponent. At the same time we are in the round of 16; uou cannot expect to have easy opponents. That’s the second week. All the matches are difficult. Let’s see if I am able to keep playing well.”

[polldaddy poll=9784032]
[polldaddy poll=9784120]