Murray, Tsonga join Federer, Djokovic in Wimbledon semifinals

WIMBLEDON, England -- BBC commentator Sue Barker summed up the atmosphere here at Wimbledon on Wednesday.

“Ready for Murray mania,” she said.

Indeed, the fourth-seeded Murray and Spaniard David Ferrer, who was seeded seventh, played exquisite tennis Wednesday in the Wimbledon quarterfinals.

The force of the hitting from both players was punishing but both players also used slices and drop shots and lobs to the delight of the Centre Court crowd, which was willing to cheer for Ferrer even though no British player has won Wimbledon since Fred Perry in 1936, which makes Murray sort of the Chicago Cubs. The pressure is fierce for the Scot to win.

And Murray did win, 6-7 (5), 7-6 (6), 6-4, 7-6 (7). Murray, still without a major title, will face fifth-seeded Jo-Wilfried Tsongaof France. Tsonga used his body as a surf board sometimes, throwing it to the ground and sliding toward shots while beating Germany’sPhilipp Kohlschreiber, 7-6 (5), 4-6, 7-6 (3), 6-2.

This will be Tsonga’s second consecutive Wimbledon semifinal and Murray’s fourth consecutive semifinal. He’s gotten no further.

After his 3-hour, 52-minute match, Murray said, “I fought hard for this match. It wasn’t easy with three tiebreaks, a rain delay, but I managed to come through at those moments. David’s [ranked] No. 5 in the world and doesn’t get enough respect so I knew this would be a tough one.”

The other men’s semifinal Friday will be between top-seeded and defending champion Novak Djokovic and third-seeded Roger Federer, who is aiming for his seventh Wimbledon title and first major title in more than two years.

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