LONDON — Andy Murray had all of Britain on edge for five sets.
In the end, Murray completed his seventh career comeback from two sets down to top Fernando Verdasco, 4-6, 3-6, 6-1, 6-4, 7-5 yesterday to advance to the semifinals at Wimbledon for the fifth straight year.
“Made some bad mistakes, poor choices on the court,” Murray said. “And then, I turned it around really well after that.”
Murray will play No. 24 Jerzy Janowicz, a 7-5, 6-4, 6-4 winner over Lukasz Kubot in the first Grand Slam meeting between two Polish men.
Going against the 54th-ranked Verdasco, Murray certainly made things interesting for the British fans, looking for one of their own to call a Wimbledon champion for the first time in 77 years. He dropped the first two sets, unable to handle Verdasco’s pinpoint serves that reached as high as 136 mph.
He slowly crept back into the match. In the sixth game of the fourth set, Murray saved a pair of break points — first with a service winner, then with one of his 13 aces. Three games later, he broke Verdasco, then served out the set. In the fifth set, the players held serve for 10 straight games. In the 11th, Murray broke, then served out the match at love.
“I played at a very high level,” said Verdasco, appearing in a Grand Slam quarterfinal for the first time since the 2010 U.S. Open. “And to not be able to win is painful, of course.”
It was Murray’s second comeback from two sets down at Wimbledon, adding to a 2008 victory over Richard Gasquet.
“Yeah, you’re obviously concerned,” Murray said. “You’re more concerned about losing the match, not thinking so much that, I’m going to lose at Wimbledon. You’re concerned how the match is going and that you may lose. But when you’ve been in that position a lot of times, you know how to think through it and not get too far ahead of yourself.”
About playing Murray, who won his first Grand Slam tournament last year at the U.S. Open, Janowicz said: “I hope Andy will feel some kind of pressure. I’m sure he’ll feel some kind of pressure because Great Britain is waiting for the English champion in Wimbledon.”
Earlier on Centre Court, Juan Martin del Potro hyperextended his left knee and crumpled to the ground on the fifth point, but shook off the injury for a 6-2, 6-4, 7-6 (5) victory over No. 4 David Ferrer.
Del Potro’s next match is tomorrow against No. 1 Novak Djokovic, who took down No. 7 Tomas Berdych 7-6 (5), 6-4, 6-3 on Court 1.
Djokovic overcame a two-break, 3-0 deficit in the second set to cruise to his latest victory over Berdych, the 2010 Wimbledon runner-up. Djokovic is in his 13th straight Grand Slam semifinal and in search of his seventh major title.
“Coming into the semifinals, I feel physically fresh,” Djokovic said.