4 Jul 2013

Murray makes tough work of it but reaches final four

6:43 am on 4 July 2013

The Scottish tennis star Andy Murray has battled back from near-elimination at Wimbledon to beat the unseeded Spanish left hander Fernando Verdasco in an epic five-set quarter-final.

The great home hope was two sets to love down but won the last three straight to win 4-6 3-6 6-1 6-4 7-5 and book a semi-final against the towering Jerzy Janowicz.

The two metre tall Polish player made tennis history as the first male from his country to reach the singles semis of a grand slam tournament, overpowering his countryman Lukasz Kubot in straight sets.

Another lanky player, Argentina's Juan Martin del Potro, had to overcome a nasty fall before the eighth seed recorded a straight sets win over the Spanish fourth seed David Ferrer.

Del Potro suffered the mishap in the first game of his quarter-final and required several minutes' treatment, briefly appearing in tears - but the 24-year-old gritted his teeth through two hours and 16 minutes of gruelling action to eliminate the four-time Auckland champion Ferrer, and qualify for a semi-final against Novak Djokovic.

The world number one Serb beat the Czech Tomas Berdych in straight sets.