Andy Murray has won his way through to the quarter final of the 2009 Wimbledon championships with a very hard fought 2-6 6-3 6-4 5-7 6-3  victory against Swiss no.2 Stanislas Wawrinka under the centre court roof.

It was the first ever full professional men’s match played under the new roof after it was closed half through ladies singles match between Dinara Safina and Amelie Mauresmo when it started to rain for the first time at the 2009 championships.

Murray’s day under the centre court roof did not start well and the Scot had to recover from a set down and break points down in the second set before he managed to get his game together to claim another famous centre court victory to rival the Gasquet match 12 months ago.

It’s the second time Andy Murray has made it through to the Quarter finals at All the England Club and will now face former world no.1 Juan Carlos Ferrero on Wednesday.

Murray lost to Rafael Nadal at last years quarter final stage and will be looking to go one round further and equal Tim Henman’s record of reaching the semi-finals at Wimbledon.

Whether it was the roof, the late start or Murray’s opponent, the Scot was clearly below his best at the start of the match. He lost the opening 3 points to give Wawrinka 3 immediate break points, the Scot did save those first 3 but not the fourth and Wawrinka had an early break. The warning bells were sounding as Murray was broken again and he found himself 4-0 down in the first set.

The Murray serve was nowhere near as good as it been in the two previous matches, but he did manage to get it semi-firing as he managed to get himself on the scoreboard eventually. It wasn’t enough to stop the Swiss player from capturing the first set 6-2.

Murray started slightly better in the second set, his serve was improving but still below par. The set went with serve quite comfortably in the first 4 games before what most people will see as the turning point, with Murray serving the Scot gives up to break points at 15-40. Wawrinka misses the first one a forehand well long, and blows the second with another forehand just missing the sideline. Murray would then go to win the game with the shot of the match so far, a dipping top-spin forehand on the run.

That save of break points by Murray was enough to inspire the Scot to raise his game and in two games time it was he who had his first chance to break, he couldn’t quite convert the first one, but he soon carved out another and this time it was converted courtesy of a backhand error for Wawrinka. Murray served out the next game to love to level the match at 1 set all.

The third set was an almost replica of the second this time Wawrinka had chances to break in the 6th game, missing all 3 of them before Murray breaks the Swiss star in the next game. Murray wouldn’t be denied his third set and the Scot served out to take the set 6-4 and a 2-1 lead in the match.

The fourth set was a bit a dog-fight as both players had numerous chances to break serve in multiple service games, but it was Wawrinka who claimed the break in the 11th game and went on to win the set 7-5.

The 5th and deciding set was looking like it would be a little more comfortable for the watching British public as Murray saved his best tennis for last , he managed to break in Wawrinka’s opening game after the Swiss ace had lead 40-0 in the game and the Scot raced to a 3-0 lead. It would not be that easy though, Wawrinka held serve and broke back to level things at 3-3.

Andy Murray though has proved time and time again he is a fighter and the Scot would not be denied his quarter final spot – He managed to hold serve and in epic game and Murray forced the break of serve after missing out on a few chances. All he had to do was hold serve and he did not disappoint.

Murray’s match will be for the 4th time the third match on centre court on Monday 29th June 2009. Robin Soderling vs Roger Federer is first up followed by Dinara Safina vs Amelie Mauresmo, which will give an approximate start time between 5pm and 6pm.

Murray has reached the 4th round on two previous occasions in 2006 he was eliminated at this stage by Marcos Baghdatis 3-6, 4-6, 6-7(2) and then last year he beat Richard Gasquet in that epic match 5-7, 3-6, 7-6(3), 6-2, 6-4.

His opponent on Monday is Stanislas Wawrinka, he’s 24 and ranked 18th in the world and seeded 19th at Wimbledon 2009. He is the Swiss no.2 behind Roger Federer and has been as high as 9th in the world, which achieved only 12 months ago. He has only one small ATP tour title in Umag in 2006, though he has made 5 ATP tour level finals and he won the Olympics double gold medal with Roger Federer in 2008.

Wawrinka and Murray are considered friends on tour and have met a total of seven times so far. Murray holds the advantage with 4-3 winning record and he has won the last two matches, most importantly the 4th round of the US Open were Murray cruised to victory over Wawrinka 6-1, 6-3, 6-3.

Their first two meeting were won by Wawrinka in 2005 and 2006 whilst Murray was still a teenager, since then Murray has lost just once to the Swiss player and that was on Clay in 2008. Warwinka’s favorite surface is clay and until last year Wimbledon when he reached the 4th round he had not really showed any kind of grass court form having lost in the first round of 6 grass court tournaments he had played.

Murray goes into the match as the strong favourite against the 19th seed Wawrinka, though this time bookmakers are giving Murray’s opponent a little more chance than they did Troicki. The best odds you will get on an Andy Murray win is 2/25 at Betfair and he is still currently the bookmakers second favorite to win Wimbledon 2009

Andy Murray cruised into his first ever US Open quarter final with a surprisingly straightforward straight sets win over Stanislas Wawrinka only dropping 7 games on route to a 6-1 6-3 6-3 victory.

Murray and Wawrinka had already met 4 times on the ATP tennis circuit this year and each of those matches were close encounters with 3 of them going the distance – This match however was not close, Murray dominated from the first game breaking the Swiss number 2’s serve in the opening game. The match was so one sided at one point that the US crowd started a Mexican wave half through a game.

It was labour day in the US and the crowd were perhaps expecting a little bit more of a match after seeing Venus Williams steamroll her opponent, seeing Andy Murray dominate Wawrinka was not what the holiday atmosphere crowd wanted. Wawrinka did not play that badly, he just was not at his best and Andy Murray was .

It took until the 5th game of that opening set before Wawrinka got his name on the scoreboard after 2 breaks of serve by Murray, he broke a third time to take the set 6-1.

The second set started off a little more competitively though Murray still had chances to break immediately, the score moved on to 3-3 and with Murray serving Wawrinka’s game was raised and moved into a 15-40 lead. This however was no start of a comeback for the Swiss ace, Murray quickly extinguished any chance Wawrinka had with some powerful service winners and then the Scot went on to break in the next game and serve out the Set.

Wawrinka came back from two sets down on Saturday against an Italian qualifier, though when he looked across the net tonight he saw a soon to be top 5 player in the world, this win tonight securing Murray’s place in the elite top 5, Wawrinka knew he was beat.

Murray wasted no time in the third, securing a break of serve in the third game to lead 2-1, Wawrinka rarely troubled on any Murrays service games and even when Murray began to take his foot of pedal he was never punished by Wawrinka. Murray completed the match unbroken on his own serve and finished of the match with his sixth break of serve.

Andy Murray will now face Argentina’s Juan Martín del Potro in the quarter finals on Wednesday with Rafael Nadal and Marty Fish meeting in the other Quarter final in this half of the draw.

Andy Murray will continue his US Open campaign against the second best Swiss player in the world Stanislas Wawrinka in the fourth round later tonight(1st September), the Match will take place in the evening session and is second on the Arthur Ashe court (approx 1am-2am Tuesday morning in the UK)

Second best Swiss player in the world may not sound that imposing, but don’t forget that the number 1 Swiss player is Roger Federer and the young Swiss star has emerged this year from the former number 1’s shadow to establish himself as top 10 player.

Wawrinka is currently ranked 10th in the world and is also seeded 10th here at the 2008 US Open. Despite is great form this year the Swiss star has never won a singles title, he has reached two finals this year including the Rome masters event back in May losing to Novak Djokovic narrowly 6-4 3-6 3-6.

Andy Murray and Stanislas Wawrinka are reportedly good friends off court and it seems these two’s careers are quite intertwined this year, they have met 4 times this year and 6 times in total. The record is 3 wins a piece though Murray holds the advantage of winning 3 of their 4 matches this year.

In the two events that Wawrinka’s has made the final he has met Andy Murray, he beat the Scotsman 6-2 7-6(7-5) on route to the masters final in Rome on clay in May. The pair had first met this year on the hard courts of the Doha final at the beginning of the year and this time it was Murray who was the victor 6-4 4-6 6-2. Their next encounter was again on hard courts, this time in Marseille in February, Murray again was the winner another close 3 setter 3-6 7-6(5) 6-1 – Murray went on to win that event in Marseille beating Mario Ancic in the final.

Their most recent match was just a few weeks ago in the Rogers Cup, a masters series event played on hard courts again in Toronto and the Scot would make it 3 wins out of 4 for the year – A slightly strange match were Wawrinka had some ankle issues in the first set, the final match score 6-2 0-6 6-4.

With Murray’s record over Wawrinka on hard courts this season, it’s no surprise that he is the favourite to take victory later on tonight. The Odds you will get of Murray winning against Wawrinka are roughly 2/5 and 7/4 on Wawrinka beating Murray, though you will find better on odds on both counts at Betfair and you can still get your free £25 when you sign up.

Andy Murray proved once again that he is indeed one of the fittest and toughest opponents to beat as he once again came from two sets down to win a dramatic US open third round match against Austrian Jurgen Melzer 6-7(5-7) 4-6 7-6(7-5) 6-1 6-3.

But how this match made it to 5 sets I will never know, Murray was much the better player in both the first and second sets and just could not finish off his numerous chances and when it came down to the big points in those two sets it was Melzer who raised his game and produced the tennis of his life.

He took the first set to a tie break after saving a set point at 6-5, before the breaker Melzer had made no impression on the Murray serve and these things go, Murray serve broke down in the tie break and Melzer found his return game.

The second followed much same pattern of the first, with Murray pushing Melzer all the way on the Austrian’s service only to squander break point after break point – these points were not lost by Murray, but won by Melzer, the Austrian showing us some terrific shots, in particular his two handed backhand drop shot, that Murray was finding difficult to read and when he did make it to the ball chose the wrong the shot and Melzer was there for the easy follow up. Those misses would prove costly and Melzer took advantage breaking Murray in the 10th game of the set to take the set and a commanding lead.

Murray had not played badly and at this stage would have still been favourite in many people’s books to still go on and actually win the match – and go on win the match he did – though not without further drama.

Murray secured his first break of serve mid way through the third set only to be pegged back when he was serving for the set at 5-4. It would take another tiebreak to decide the third set.

Murray was quick on the assault and secured mini break only to lose them straight back to Melzer. Murray found himself 4-5 down and Melzer was just two points away from the match. In many of these types of matches we look for turning points and this next two points definitely was it. With Murray serving he really needed to win his next two service points, which so far in the tie break he had not managed to do. He won the first point with a big service winner and the with next point fired down a 138mph ace that equalled his fastest ever serve.

That ace served as a huge blow for Melzer and seem to just knock the wind out him, Murray converted the next point on the Melzer serve after he managed to read Melzer’s drop shot and put the return away for a clean winner.

The fourth set was a contest only for the first two games, after Murray secured a break of serve in the second game, Melzer gave up, conserving his energy for fifth. As the match progressed it was becoming more and more obvious that Melzer was struggling for fitness and needed the trainer on court to tend some cramp in his legs.

The massage from the trainer seemed to help Melzer and the Austrian was still up for the scrap at the start of second. Murray still looked dangerous on the Melzer’s serve and brought up deuce on the third game, but Melzer would hold out to lead 2-1.

After the huge comeback from Murray, there was always the chance he could come off the pace in the third and that’s what happened in the third game. After two outstanding drop shots from Melzer, the Austrian found himself 15-40 with two break points and was a whisker away from converting the first, after blistering return of serve, Murray struggled just to return the ball and with what seemed an easy backhand approach, Melzer dumped the ball in the net. That was Melzer’s chance, another huge serve Murray save the other and then another ace secures the game.

They both traded two more service games before Murray secured the vital break in the crucial seventh game with a mix of aggression and simple keep the ball in play, keep the ball long and wait for your chance.

That was indeed the match over – Melzer saved two match points on his own serve before Murray secured the match on the third.

It was another breathtaking win, not quite on par with Gasquet at Wimbledon, but close to it, after the match Murray said

He was playing awesome, hitting the ball so hard and flat, It was so tough for me to get a rhythm, but I felt after the third set, the momentum was with me. My fitness is something I’ve worked so hard on. I’ve got a great team with me and I’m really enjoying working with them. Ideally, you’d rather not play matches of that length, but sometimes it happens. You’ve got to get through it.

This will be Murray’s second time in the 4th round of the US open and will play Stanislas Wawrinka who himself had to fight back from two sets down against lucky loser (lost in qualifying but made it through due to someone dropping out the main draw) Flavio Cipolla. Though how Wawrinka nearly lost this match his a mystery, from the action I seen of the match Cipolla had nothing to offer and it was only unforced errors from Wawrinka that got the little Italian any points.

On the downside for Murray, his odds of winning the US open perhaps have been dented, after expending so much energy early on in the tournament. He and Ross Hutchins lost an epic doubles match against the number 1 doubles team in the world on a third set tiebreak. Murray has now played 18 sets of tennis compared with 9 sets played by Rafael Nadal.

I don’t think this will hamper Murray but the bookmakers don’t share my view, his odds have increased from before he started the event and they had even dipped after his first two wins. So if you think Murray is still going to win, now may be your best time to place your bet. Betfair are still the highest odds you will find and will give you a free £25 to wager when you sign up.

6-2 0-6 6-4 was the odd scoreline that was how the match between the worlds number 9 and 10 players, Andy Murray and Stanislas Wawrinka finished. Most predicted that this match would go a full 3 sets, but few could have predicted that one set would be lost to love and the victor in that set would go on to lose the match.

That’s what happened in this very topsy-turvy match. Murray strode out onto court and quickly asserted his dominance on the match breaking the Swiss number 2’s serve in both his opening service games, to take a 3-0 lead. At that change of ends Wawrinka requested a trainer, Murray went out to serve and increase his lead to 4-0 before the trainer arrived to assist Wawrinka.

The Diagnosis seem to be a “dodgy” right knee caused by the change of surface, clay courts to hard courts, after received lengthy treatment he was able to return with the trainer giving reassuring words that he would not aggravate the injury any more by playing on.

And play on Wawrinka did, he managed to hold his serve in his next two games and Murray served out the set 6-2. Murray opted for a “comfort break” at the end of the second and returned a different player.

With a combination of aggressive forward play from Wawrinka and some simply awful shots from Murray allowed Wawrinka to run of the next 7 games in a row, to take the second set 6-0 and a 1-0 lead in the final set. Murray may have conceded defeat half way through that second set, but even in his first serve of the third set he struggled to convert the game, facing 2 break points and numerous deuces.

But convert it he did and from then on Murray held his serve a little more comfortably and Wawrinka started to struggle or more accurately Murray stopped the awful shots and rather than sailing 2 feet wide, his shots were beginning to fall inside the lines.

Murray would make the vital breakthrough in the seventh game of the third set, when he secured the Swiss stars break of serve for the last crucial time. Murray served out the match with out incident and looked a far more assured player in those last 2 service games.

Andy Murray will now face fellow 21 year old Novak Djokovic tomorrow in the pick of the quarter final matches. Murray has lost all 4 previous meetings. After the match Murray said, 

I played really well at the start and I felt like I was hitting the ball great, Early in the second set I had a chance to break him and obviously didn’t. He started to pick his game up and it actually got very windy and I started to miss quite a lot of balls, mis-hit a few – I think I missed the ball completely three or four times.  But I had to stay tough in the third set because he was playing much better.  I’ve played Stan quite a few times, we’re really good friends, and when I have played him in the past he’s struggled a bit to close the matches out so I knew I had to keep fighting and I found some first serves when I needed them and made a few key returns. But it’s tough to stay focused when you’re making so many mistakes.

Andy is scheduled to return later tonight with his brother Jamie, to take on Daniel Nestor and Nenad Zimonjic in the doubles.