ContinueAndy Murray booked his place in the last 16 of Wimbledon with a nail-biting victory over the resilient Marco Baghdatis on Saturday night.
Murray was made to work by the world number 42, and the gulf in their tournament rankings counted for nothing as the Scot battled to a 7-5 3-6 7-5 6-1 victory.
With the encounter starting at 19:15 and nightfall beginning to descend, the nation was on the edger of it’s seats as both players battled against the clock to finish the tie before Wimbledon’s 11pm curfew.
Murray started the contest strongly, but Baghdatis showed the type of class which questioned the truth of his lowly ranking, as he pegged Murray back to 5-5 in the first set.
At 40-15 with the first set tied, the Cypriot gave Murray an inch, and he duly took a mile, fighting back to lead 6-5, before serving out the first set to take the lead.
Baghdatis was not taking this laying down, and came back strongly, controlling the second set as Murray grabbed at various body parts which were feeling the strain.
As Murray’s body appeared to be his downfall, his pockets hardly helped as he dropped balls during play on a number of occasions, handing easy points to his opponent for the infringement.
Following a break at the end of the second set to close the roof, Baghdatis came out as the stronger player, leading the third set 4-2, but Murray was not finished.
With his knee taped up, and the new conditions playing to his favour, the British number one fought back and held serve to draw level as the Wimbledon crowd spurred him on.
Snatching the third set on break point, and with the clock edging near the deadline, Murray stormed through the fourth set, taking the advantage after Baghdatis gifted him a double fault to make it 5-1, before Murray imperiously served out the set.
He will now face tough Croatian Marin Cilic on Monday.
