Day 9 Today at Wimbledon

Good evening and welcome to the programme. Stop that, John. It is

really irritating! Tennis gets more global, but a poor set of Europeans,

including a one man keeping the nation on tenterhooks a game, where

today's quarter-finalists. Two Germans, a serve, a Frenchman, a

Swiss, a Russian and a Spaniard were the eight who were going to

generate. It was obviously a big day. A glance at the Royal Box to

go to that. Alongside Rowell stayed where tennis royalty, and there was

a journalistic royalty, and a man in a hat who might be the greatest

tennis Blair ever. All waiting to see if Andy Murray could make a 4th

consecutive semi-final, and maybe go further than that. Tracey and

Greg are hour royalty. We will show you Andy Murray's matched later. I

suspect the early matches took place when most of you were at work.

We will start with a man who probably rivalled Rod Laver as the

greatest of all time. Roger Federer has six Wimbledon

titles. If he wins another, he will equal the record of... Seven. To

equal that, he will need to win Mikhail Youzhny is in his first

Wimbledon quarter-final. Into 1007, he led Rafael Nadal... His record

is less than encouraging. You have played 13 times? Yes. I and 113

times? Yes. He might believe anything is possible.

Let's not pretenders was anything other than an exhibition. By the

end, Youzhny was asking the Royal Box for help! To the amusement of

Andre Agassi and everyone else. The reason was the way that Federer had

played, like a dog. -- god. It was the depth and range of his talent.

Every shot that is humanly possible to play was in it. Federer played

it today. He did. He felt so comfortable. He felt like he could

dictate. Eddery use the drop shot, the volley, everything. -- Eldoret

used the drop shot. It did not seem like his back was a problem. It was

. I do not know what Roger Federer's hourly rates would be as

a tennis coach! He has got himself into yet another Wimbledon semi-

final. He has never lost one. This Congratulations. You thought seemed

to win in 14 matches. Words like simple and coasting were used. Was

it that easy? I thought I played great. I do not think I have ever

played -- and do not think he has played on Centre Court. A I thought

he played a great tournament and I would like to congratulate him as

well. He was down in all the set quickly, and that makes it

difficult to play freely. He fought hard but it was not enough today.

I'm very happy. Treacy, would you say that when Roger Federer is

playing well, he is still better than anyone else? That is tough

these days because Djokovic is playing so well. He has dominated

the Grand Slams these last few years. At the French Open last year,

Federer had those two match points. I have to agree. Djokovic has

played some of the best tennis throughout these championships.

Federer had a problem with his back. He will have to step it up A-level.

He coasted today. We do not know how bad his back is. A match like

today was perfect in the sense that he did not feel under any real

pressure. Absolutely. He only lost five games and that is the least

amount of games he has lost. Let's move on. Who would be barring

Federer's way towards another Wimbledon final? To Be Or Not To Be,

that is the question for Florian Mayer. To be the man to beat Novak

Djokovic would make the man a legend. He needs a plan. Mayak said

that involves irritating Djokovic. Would he be able to get under his

skin? What he's got shame -- a word he squash him? This was nothing

like as straightforward as the There's a man using guitar all

again! There is Djokovic, doing what great players do, fighting

It is a shame such a good rally was one on an error. This is the key

points in determining who would He waited for Djokovic to play with

I have seen a few of those from Djokovic. He does not seem too

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happy. I do not know whether it is Three break points for Florian

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He gave him a chance. He gave I wonder if Florian Mayer will

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Whatever chance Florian Mayer had! Five consecutive points from

The way Florian Mayer home his head should do all you need to know that

he knew a golden opportunity had passed him by. Here they are rats

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ate point. -- here their act at set John Richard Thorpe, there is no

break through. It may be the Here is the No. 1 seed, safely

through into the semi-final. It will be Federer against Djokovic on

Congratulations. You rot that up in the end. I think it was quite even.

It was a little bit windy. There was a change in the weather. I am

very satisfied with the overall performance. Now a very tasty semi-

final against Roger Federer, who you have never met here at

Wimbledon? Yes, I am looking forward to that. He is a champion.

He has been so dominant and consistent in his Grand Slams. It

is a challenge. We were at the French Open a few

weeks ago. We are looking forward to the match on Friday. What can we

expect? If Djokovic wins the first set, the momentum will go with him,

but Federer will have the British crowd behind him. This was a moment

of what other players that will be very important. There are no holes

in Djokovic's game. He is moving so well, better than ever. You can

never count Roger Federer out. He has won here six times. But Geoff

has to start well. When Djokovic gets on a roll, he will be tough to

stop. Also, what will the weather be like? If it is under the grave,

that will favour Djokovic. -- under the roof. The grass is much slower.

It favours a baseline play like Djokovic. In terms of Ferre's

attitude, we always try to impose our thoughts, which is often

ridiculous, but Federer must be aware that the clock is ticking and

there may not be that many more opportunities. If it was Murray or

sombre in the final, he might fancy his chances. I hope he is not

thinking that way. Champions love the challenge and relish it. I

think he is bothered that he lost the US Open. You practise so you

can get out there in the semi- finals, and play against someone

who is number one in the world. other thing that is intriguing, we

all know their history. They do not like each other up that much, so

there is a bit of an age there. They have both said how great the

other is plain, but behind the scenes, each one of those guys

wants to beat the other so badly. remember was just playing attention,

because I have already given away who won the other matches! Which of

these might be Andy Murray's opponent on Friday, where he to

98, the number of minutes it took Kohlschreiber to meet the man who

beat Rafa. 178, the number of Tas Roger Federer converted a two-set

lead until Jo-Wilfried Tsonga ruined that. 33, the number of

Major's it has taken for Kohlschreiber to reach a quarter-

final. Who would have who in a spin Roche lobe a backhand. Little slip,

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but no harm done. -- Kohlschreiber Here we are in the second set. He

Kohlschreiber won the second set. Here we are at the start of the

The person who usually wins the first point in a tie-breaker

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He cannot believe he must have Does such a little guy, he

generates so much power. -- for Those the first point where I have

seen controlled aggressiveness from As a chain round, more or less the

same situation. Tsonga should win He has all the momentum now and

Clever second serve. Kohlschreiber couldn't work it there. It was one

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of his faster second serves, at 107 One against their head. Here are

three set points. In the first tie- break, he had five set points

That tie-break just about broke the Germans resolve. Here we are, at

the end of the match, at the end of the 4th set. That is how you expect

to see Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. He was like a boxer walking into the ring

there, wasn't he? He is through to Congratulations. Your reaction to

making it through to the semi- finals here for the second

successive year. You are so happy. It is great to have a second chance.

It was not easy today. Philipp Kohlschreiber played well. He

served well, he played better than He was really aggressive, it was

very tough for me today. Greg, you thought? It was one of

those matches where he played up and down. It looked like his back

was troubling him, because he was not walking well. He was playing an

opponent he was very comfortable against. He had never lost a tie-

In the 4th set, he played well. He looks a threat and if he plays like

he did when he beat Roger Federer last year, he will be a threat.

also played well last week, when he played one of the best games of his

life and lost! If he plays like that, Andy Murray will have

problems. It is important for Jo- Wilfried Tsonga to serve well. He

has been. He has only been broken twice. That was in the second set

today. He did a very good job of controlling Kohlschreiber' Sir. He

is leading in the tournament with 88 aces going into the match.

Kohlschreiber had a good draw. This was Raphael Natal's portion of the

trough. The highest ranked player he played was a number 50 in the

world. Rafael Nadal seems like such a long time ago. You move on so

quickly. From Jo-Wilfried Tsonga' pointed you, every crowd loves him.

Especially in this country. Wimbledon love him, Queen's loves

him. It will be interesting, because there will be a portion of

the crowd who actually want Jo- Wilfried Tsonga to win, don't you

think? There will be a little bit. You have to look at history just

now. It has been 76 years since we have had a British man when this

event. He is French, we are in the UK. You know the French English

sort of thing... We love them, Greg. We do. Especially when they beat us.

It is the irresistible force against the immovable object. It is

a battle of the running men who do not run down. Andy Murray and David

Ferrer keep going and going and going, opening their opponents can

be drained into submission. The Spaniard was only Clay, apparently.

Andy Murray knows better than to fall into that one. He's a clay-

court specialist? No, he is not! is better than me. Mutual respect

cannot mask the underlying desire for each to inflict tennis battery

on the other. I am sure the majority of you have

seen this by now. Some of the quality in the rallies was

engrossing. Especially if you had a vested interest in wanting Andy

Murray to win, it was nerve-racking. We will join it at 5-3 to David

Ferrer after Andy Murray had suffered his mandatory laps at one

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point in the first set. Andy Murray He has got to do more damage on

that second serve. That is his bread and butter. That did not come

When you see Ferrer in that full- stretch, he has got to move in and

It is not the fastest serve we have ever seen, but when it is that

accurate, it will not come back. When it hit the line, that his two

That is too good. This court actually seems to suit his game,

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A fantastic return of serve, to within a couple of inches of the

Look where Ferrer is standing and look where Andy Murray is. After

the date first serve, Andy Murray was never able to establish himself

in the point. Ferrer, tight on the baseline, dictating with the

He just leant on that ball. If that is what he can do on the backhand

Break of serve. Andy Murray is back in the said. -- back in the match.

He fought his way back in, but ultimately to no avail. We went to

a tie-break and just one or two errors, especially on the Andy

Murray forehand now that the This was where it was getting

really serious. A second-set tie- Too good. Simply too good on that

occasion. Once again, Andy Murray needs to surf the next two points

You have got to hit three winners against this guy. A much needed

So was that. Double figures for aces. Twice he has had to win both

points to stay in this tie-break. He has shown a good deal of courage

That was really an amazing effort by both guys. You talk about a

tough time to serve, that was it. Hit the line. He just stopped the

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ball. Said., Ferrer. -- said., Come on, scream louder so you can

I don't think this is the time to start the way. -- the wave. 6-6.

The winner of this next. Will have High and it Murray. -- and it is

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What a way to win a tie-break. He was five points down in that tie

breaker. Half-an-hour later, he suddenly one break-up in the third

suddenly one break-up in the third set and he duly won it, by 6-4.

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Into the 4th set, another tie-break. Ferrer is not backing down, that is

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UMPIRE: Game, set and match, Andy Murray. It is another semi-final at

Wimbledon for Andy Murray, who has We will hear from the veteran a

moment. Here is the gallant loser Fantastic entertainment for the

crowd. Can you tell me what you thought the difference was today?

He played better than me in the important moments. He was very good

for the whole match. I played a really good match, I am happy with

my game. Congratulations for Andy, he was better than me. In the press

conference a couple of days ago, it was mentioned to him that you are a

clay-court specialist and he laughed and said, no, he is not. He

is good on all surfaces. He proved that once again. I am not a spell

at -- I am not a specialist on clay court, I prefer hard court. I like

grass as well. Maybe it is not my best surface. When you're in a

tight match like today, and it comes down to a few points here and

there, how do not let events get away from you? The crowd of

cheering for Andy Murray. It is not a problem for me. I try to focus on

the match, I try to focus on the next point. Of course, the people's

support for Andy is normal. They are very respectful for their

opponent. Many congratulations on reaching

another semi-final. What are you thought? A tough match, along match.

A lot of tight moments. Three tie- breaks, rain-delayed... There were

not many up and downs. I managed to break at the right moment. I played

better at the end of the said. played his part in a match where

there were so many long rallies at times. He is a great player, he is

ranked No. 5 in the world. He sometimes does not get enough

respect, I have known him a long time, he is an unbelievably hard

worker and he has a great game and plays well on every surface and I

knew it would be a tough fight. lost the first set in the tie-break.

At that stage, you had to be mentally tough, didn't you? Yes, it

was tricky. It was when the on the court, so from the far side, where

we come onto the court, it was easier to dictate the points from

that end. Each time I started from the tougher end to play from, I

went behind in most of the tie- breaks and managed to come back in

the end. I hate to mention the word luck,

but was the fortunate in that second set tie-break? Absolutely

not. He really took the game to Ferrer, he was dictating with his

forehand, he started unloading with his backhand. He really elevated

his game. His back was against the wall. Andy Murray got better and

better as the match went along. 18 aces, he served very well. He drove

through those ground strokes. He moved Ferrer ground. Ivan Lendl,

when they started working together, emphasised that he had to do better

on his second serve. Deadpan out as you expected it? It dead, I thought

it would be fought says. It was a bit of a Harry Houdini act. He was

down break points in the third set. I believe he will get to the

Wimbledon final. I think he will be Francois Hollande -- I think he

will be Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. Everything is moving towards a Brit

being in the finals for the first time in a while. And he doesn't

have to play Rafael Nadal. I am picking Andy Murray as well. It is

impossible for us to know. You have been in a Grand Slam pack final. He

will know, on Friday, but the expectation will be monumental

because he is not playing Rafael Nadal. It is impossible for any of

us to know how to respond or how he will respond to that. He has had a

lot of years to get used to that. Did you not think he was nervous?

No, I didn't. Ferrer is tough. There was very little between them.

Andy played a little bit better in the crucial moment. All credit to

Andy. We have to give Ferrer a little bit of respect. He has been

in three major semi-finals, this guy is the real deal. Murray had to

play some great tennis. Going into the match against Jo-Wilfried

Tsonga, the has been in three major finals, he has lost to Federer and

Djokovic, two of the greatest players ever. He has got Ivan Lendl

in his corner now. The preparation will be ideal. This is his

opportunity. He will do the business on Friday. We like this

kind of positive thinking. That is on Friday. The weather almost

doesn't matter now. They are behind in the doubles but the roof will

deliver one out in the singles. Irrespective of the weather

tomorrow, and look at that skyline, we have Angelique Kerber against

I think Angelique Kerber will win the top one, and Serena Williams

will win against Azarenka. Serena Williams elevated herself against

Petra Kvitova. She has to elevate even more in the next round. Serena

Williams is Seven-Up in one against Azarenka. She has that in her mind.