MEN’S SINGLES

ANDY MURRAY is through to the quarter-finals tomorrow against Feliciano Lopez, the dashing Spanish left-hander his mother Judy calls Deliciano, and playing the sort of tennis that can send a British audience starved of success at Wimbledon for several decades to dangerously excitable levels.

But the Scot is not readily seduced by the general rush – from the commentary box to the Royal Box – to celebrate his fourth-round win over Richard Gasquet on Centre Court yesterday as one of his best since he has been coming to SW19.

He certainly hit the heights at the finish and also did well to come through a difficult first set, but he was content to reflect instead on steady improvement since dropping a set against the unseeded Spaniard Daniel Gimeno-Traver a week ago, and again when Ivan Ljubicic stretched him to four sets in the third round.

He won 7-6 6-3 6-2 yesterday, a scoreline that tells a story of growing dominance that was just about total after two hours and four minutes. Murray recognises, though, that he needs consistency on his fabled return of service and has to cope better with the ever-quickening pace of the game in the second week, as the parched courts wear and the first serve takes on added significance.

It has become part of the post-match ritual to inquire about his state of mind, so central to his ups and downs has it been the past couple of years. He is fine, it can be reported.

As for other inconveniences, Murray has played two matches under the roof and this one in the baking heat of mid-summer, which threw his reactions out a little.

“First set I returned poorly,” he said, “so I wasn’t able to get into any of his service games at all.”

Gasquet, who came to the last 16 on a wave of decent form, dropped only four points on his serve before the tie-break. He was delighted to see Murray hit eight ground-strokes long in the first 10 minutes, shots that are the foundations of his game from the back of the court, but the Frenchman could not seize the initiative for long enough to unsettle Murray.

“I had opportunities to win the first set,” Gasquet said, “one break point at the start of the match. But he served very well, especially in the second set. He’s doing everything (well). He has a great backhand, good forehand, he’s running a lot, he’s clever on the court. He’s a good player, better than he was (here) three years ago.”

Defending champion and top seed Rafa Nadal showed all his fighting spirit and irrepressible will to win when he overcame a painful foot injury and a testing examination from Juan Martin Del Potro to advance.

The Spaniard looked in danger of having to withdraw after receiving lengthy treatment at the end of the first set but gritted his teeth to take the subsequent tiebreak en route to a battling 7-6 3-6 7-6 6-4 victory.

“I thought I’d have to retire,” Nadal said of the problem that needed 10 minutes of on-court attention. “I felt something very strange. I don’t know what the problem is yet, it seems like it’s in the bone, in the foot. The tape changed probably the position of the foot and the distribution of the power so I was able to continue with a bit of pain.”

The injury was just a talking point from one of the best matches of the tournament as Del Potro proved a dangerous floater as he continues his recovery and climb back up the rankings following wrist surgery. There was nothing between the two players in a first set littered with crunching forehands but things looked worrying for Nadal before the tiebreak when he needed lengthy treatment for the injury.

He eventually returned to the fray but looked tentative as Del Potro quickly led 3-0 with a mini-break. However, Nadal, channelling all his anger and frustration into his racket head, crashed his way back to lead 4-3. Del Potro hit back with two mini-breaks but Nadal showed all his fighting qualities to come back again and took the tiebreak 8-6 when Del Potro double-faulted.

The Argentine, aiming for his first grand slam quarter-final since his 2009 US Open victory, continued to look the more consistent server but even he was reduced to clapping his opponent after one miraculous Nadal recovery shot when the Spaniard faced break point. Del Potro did break in the eighth game, though, and took the set after getting the better of an exchange of drop shots that had the Centre Court crowd drooling.

In the third set it was Del Potro’s turn to need treatment after he hurt his left thigh when he slipped on the base line but he too recovered fully to take the set to another tiebreak, only for Nadal to take it.

It was captivating stuff, both players unloading hugely powerful groundstrokes and finding seemingly impossible angles, but the match turned decisively Nadal’s way when he broke for the first time in the fifth game of the fourth set. The Spaniard then showed steely nerve to hold serve in the next game after trailing 0-30 and eventually completed victory in almost four memorable hours.

Elsewhere, Novak Djokovic will face teenage practice partner Bernard Tomic in tomorrow’s quarter-final. Two days after a scare against Marcos Baghdatis, Djokovic looked back to his imperious best as he swatted aside Michael Llodra in a 6-3 6-3 6-3 win.

Guardian Service