Murray Advances to Fifth Consecutive Wimbledon Semis After Scare Against Verdasco
Andy Murray came back from two sets down for the seventh time in his career on Wednesday at Wimbledon as he reached the semifinals with a 4-6, 3-6, 6-1, 6-4, 7-5 victory over Fernando Verdasco. In the semifinals, he will meet first-time Grand Slam semifinalist Jerzy Janowicz of Poland, an earlier 7-5, 6-4, 6-4 winner over fellow countryman Lukasz Kubot. Murray will be making his fifth consecutive appearance in the Wimbledon semis.
Murray is bidding to reach his seventh Grand Slam final and fourth in a row, having finished runner-up at Wimbledon last year when he lost to Roger Federer before winning his first major title at the U.S. Open over Novak Djokovic last September, and then losing in the Australian Open final in January to Djokovic.
Murray improved to a 9-1 head-to-head over Verdasco with victory in three hours and 26 minutes on Centre Court. It is the second time Murray has rescued a two-set deficit, having beaten Richard Gasquet in five sets in the 2008 fourth round.
At 22 years of age and 236 days, Janowicz is the youngest man to reach the Wimbledon semifinals since Murray did so at 22 years, 51 days in 2009. In two career meeting, Janowicz and Murray each have a victory under their belt, with Janowicz coming out on top most recently at the 2012 BNP Paribas Masters in Paris.
“He is one of the best young players on the tour," said Murray of Janowicz. "He served at 140 miles per hour, he is an aggressive player and very tall. He is a great athlete and it will be a difficult match.”
Murray goes into the semi-finals on a 10-match winning streak, having won his 27th tour-level title three weeks ago at The Queen’s Club.
“I have to be focused on my game. It will be a really cool match, a really nice atmosphere there," said Janowicz of his meeting with Murray. "For sure, the crowd will not really help me, but we’ll see how it’s going to be. This is my first semifinal ever, so I don’t know what to expect."
