Fright night - Murray raises the roof as he roars to victory at 10.38
Date published :
30 Jun 2009 - 09:10:35
Andy Murray turned Centre Court's first night session under its £80million new roof into a cliff-hanger last night as Wimbledon witnessed its latest-ever finish to a day's play.
With the All England Club shrouded in darkness and thousands of fans still packing Henman Hill, the Scot finally subdued Stanislas Wawrinka 2-6, 6-3, 6-3, 5-7, 6-3 at 10.38pm in a match that lasted three hours, 56 minutes.
Coincidentally, the previous record also involved Wawrinka, who lost a match to Mario Ancic at 9.49pm on July 1, 2006 on Court One.
Pure emotion: Murray sinks to his knees after his epic match
Murray set aside his initial annoyance at the confusion over whetherthe roof would be reopened for his match on a glorious summer'sevening, to set up a quarter-final meeting with former French Open champion Juan Carlos Ferrero.
He said: 'I was surprised to play under the roof. We warmed up outside and it was dry so I was expecting to play without it closed.
'In my opinion, the decision on whether the roof will be closed or open should be made before the previous match is finished so that they can let the players know in a decent amount of time what conditions they are going to play under.'
Murray added: 'I had never played a grass-court match indoors beforeand it made a difference. It was very, very heavy and very humid.
'I was sweating so much. I know it was hot outside today but my hands were drenched.
'When I finished it was like I had been in a bath. I still like Wimbledon being adaytime event, though.'
He added: 'It was very special. Stan played a great match. Thestandard that he set at the start was very hard to keep up with.
'The atmosphere was great. It's always special when you playindoors, but when you've got 15,000 people supporting you, it's evenmore so. I won't be dreaming of winning Wimbledon, but I'll sleeppretty deep tonight after that one.'
Ferrero, meanwhile, had no such worries as the 29-year-old unseeded Spanish veteran cruised past France's eighth seed Gilles Simon 7-6, 6-3, 6-2.
Picture special of Murray's golden night under the £80m Centre Court roof.
