Memories of the golden summer of 2012 were evoked ever more powerfully at Wimbledon last night as Andy Murray and Roger Federer maintained course to meet one another while two more major threats to that outcome hobbled out of the tournament.
The retirement through injury of both Japan’s Kei Nishikori, with a rib injury and Richard Gasquet of France, with back problems, means only three of the world’s top eight remain in the men’s singles at the quarter-final stage and the third of them, Canada’s sixth seed Milos Raonic, had to come back from two sets down to overcome Belgian David Goffin.
There were no dramas on Centre Court however. Both looking to have been given an additional boost of confidence by world number one and reigning champion Novak Djokovic’s shock weekend exit, third seed Federer – who claimed the last of his record Grand Slam wins on it four years ago - and second seed Murray – who lost that final but then went on to beat Federer in the Olympic final on the same turf weeks later - cruised through their matches, sandwiching a similarly comfortable win for women’s top seed Serena Williams.
Read more: Jamie Murray's Wimbledon doubles bid hangs in the balance after epic encounter
Murray was facing Nick Kyrgios, the maverick and sometimes controversial, but always watchable Australian with whom he is friendly, but whose rapid fire style could have unsettled him.
Instead it was the 21-year-old from Canberra who lost his way and was simultaneously slaughtered on court and off it as John McEnroe, the former darling of the Centre Court, criticised his attitude.
Many would have unravelled under such pressure from the focused Murray and the Scot, who will now face Frenchman Joe-Wilfried Tsonga in the quarter-finals, was highly satisfied with how he applied it.
Read more: Bromance is dead as Murray floors Kyrgios with a Glasgow kiss
“The first set was obviously key,” he said.
“He served extremely well in the first set. He was up in the high 80s for first serve percentage, which to win a set against someone serving like that is big and totally changed the way the match went.
“I knew it was a dangerous match. I was very switched on from the start. I'm fully aware of how difficult my next opponent is, as well. I know Tsonga is one of the best grass court players in the world. If he plays well, I'm not on my game, I can lose that match for sure.”
It had taken Murray only an hour and 43 minutes, but that was still six minutes more than Federer required against American Steve Johnson who had been expected to give him a far tougher test than he had encountered in the opening week.
“I'm happy that I've been able to rise now to the occasion,” said the 17-time Grand Slam winner.
“I think it was by far my best match (of this tournament). I'm confident also going to the (Marin) Cilic match but I think it's a tough one. He likes grass. He's won Queen's before and has done well here.”
Federer is also acutely aware that in their last meeting Cilic “rushed me off the court like I was nothing in the semi-finals of the US Open a few years ago.”
That was in the semi-final of the 2014 US Open which Cilic went on to win, sweeping aside Nishikori on that final and he was on course to do so again when the Japanese player retired during their fourth round meeting.
Nishikori explained that he has been troubled by the rib problem that ended his involvement since last month’s tournament in Halle.
“It's been not recovering well these two weeks. After the third round, it got worse. Today I was hoping to get better, but it was too much pain on the court. So I couldn't really compete today,” he said, while also paying tribute to the way Cilic played.
Gasquet had also been trying to shake off an injury which, in his case, flared up during his defeat of Spain’s Albert Ramos-Vinolas in the previous round.
“This morning I tried to warm up, it was okay. Then during my match, I felt something wrong and I couldn't move after that,” he explained.
His withdrawal early in the first set gave his injury prone countryman Tsonga some much needed recovery time ahead of a quarter-final meeting with Murray, since he had been involved in the latest Franco-American epic involving John Isner at the weekend, winning the final set of that encounter 19-17.
In the women’s singles Serena and Venus Williams meanwhile march on, the expectations of most of the remaining rivals of the sisters who have between them won 11 titles, perhaps best summed up by the fact that the third highest ranked of them, Dominika Cibulkova, had planned her wedding for Saturday, the day of the women’s final.
The 27-year-old Slovak meets Russia’s Elena Vesnina in the last eight and said she will postpone the nuptials if she reaches the semis, which would seem premature since her opponent at that stage is almost certain to be the younger Williams.
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