Murray savours his 'best moment'

ANDY Murray pulled off the most remarkable comeback of his career last night to reach the quarter-final of a grand slam for the first time. Apparently down and out against Richard Gasquet when the Frenchman served for the match at two sets up and 5-4 ahead in the third, Murray first inched his way back into contention and then took control.

By the end, almost four hours after the fourth-round game had begun on Centre Court, his biggest adversary was the looming darkness. Gasquet had already complained about the fading light several times, but Murray just had time to close the match out just before 9.30pm.

After winning on his service to clinch a 5-7, 3-6, 7-6, 6-2, 6-4 victory, Murray saluted the crowd and kissed his bicep – a celebration of the physical prowess he has acquired since last year, and which has given him the stamina to win such trials of endurance. "I was doing that to my fitness trainer," he said. "I just wanted to show there were muscles there and that was the first time I had a chance to."

He showed patience, too – another quality he once lacked – in two respects: first, to hang in while Gasquet played some remarkable tennis over the first couple of hours of the 3hr 57min contest; and second, to keep his nerve even while serving below par. The Scot's first service was down at 44 per cent in the first set, well beneath the level required to have a chance of winning at this level. Slowly, though, he improved, and as he did so the crowd became more vociferous in his support.

Voluble from the outset, they approached hysteria when it became apparent that Murray, the No 12 seed, had a chance of fighting back and reaching tomorrow's quarter-finals, in which he will play the No 2 seed, Rafael Nadal. It is the first time since Tim Henman reached the last eight in 2004 that a British player has got this far in his home Grand Slam. Asked if he now felt he could win the tournament, Murray had a simple reply. "I've felt like that all the way through the whole thing."

Gasquet, the No 8 seed, played at a technically superior level for much of the contest, but crucially he lacked the heart which Murray showed to fight his way back from the brink of defeat. The British No 1 will need all that fight and more when he takes on Nadal, to whom he lost in five sets in the Australian Open at the start of 2007, and he will also need a decent rest today after such a sapping struggle. But he will be inspired by his own efforts, which represent a breakthrough after falling several times at this fourth-round stage – including that match against Nadal.

"That match (against Nadal] was the best I'd played up to this point, but the way I came back from two sets to love and the support of the crowd made this the best – it was the best moment I've ever had on a tennis court," Murray said. "The first two sets, pretty much the first three, he completely outplayed me and I couldn't really do much. Then as soon as the pressure began to get to him I was able to (fight back]. The end of the match was awesome, pretty much pitch dark.

"Luckily the fourth set was really fast. Gasquet wanted to stop the much, but we could still see – just about – at the end. The crowd were awesome and they got behind me more than ever before."

Gasquet was gracious in defeat, though he did say conditions were far from ideal. "In the south of France I could play a match to finish in the dark at a club," he said. "But at Wimbledon it's strange. But that's not an excuse. It was the same for him. He played well to win the match, and maybe the key was that he served and returned better than me. I'm sad because I didn't go 6-4 in the third. I had to win that game."

MURRAY v GASQUET MATCH REPORT