A MATCH of two hours seven minutes, 201 points, three sets, 30 games and a tie-break can be summed up in one moment.

It occurred when Andy Murray flashed a back-hand cross-court past a despairing Mikhail Youzhny to win the second set. This shot of brilliance under pressure was the ball game.

Murray then took a toilet break, Youzny had medical treatment and fervent Murray fans went for a liedown in a darkened room and listened to whale songs. It was over. Mercifully. The formalities had still to be completed, of course, and Murray duly did so, compiling a 6-4, 7-6 (5), 6-1 win over the Russian to set up a quarter-final meeting with Fernando Verdasco of Spain, incidentally the first left-hander the US Open champion will face this year.

It was that second set that showed the stress of Wimbledon 2013 and how Murray can both be affected by it and then react positively. The elite have suffered almost biblical trials in SW19 with Serena Williams joining the exodus yesterday. Murray admitted the strange atmosphere surrounding the tournament had left him on edge but he was calmer before meeting Youzhny and he survives, though his movement yesterday was suspiciously limited at times and he clutched his back on occasion. His fastest serve too, was 131mph – a tad slower than normal.

"No, there's no cause for concern," said Murray when asked about his back. "It's felt way, way better than it was a few weeks ago. There's a few times on the court where you feel things. You just have to find a way of managing those issues and getting through them."

The world No.2 plays on at Wimbledon because he mixed grit with grace and power with poise against Youzhny. He faced his trials on Centre Court but found a way to win the match by snatching points at crucial times, not least in the tie-break. The Murray run at Wimbledon has been likened to a free pass to meet Djokovic on Sunday but it is a truism of professional sport that there is always a dangerous curve in a road to a final.

Youzhny, the 31-year-old Russian, was ludicrously assessed as a bye for the 26-year-old Scot. Yet the world No.26 was bidding yesterday to win his 54th match on grass with Roger Federer (122 wins), Lleyton Hewitt (116) and Murray (69) the only active players who have won more.

Youzhny, too, is a canny strategist who was keen to involve Murray in a game of slice, varying the pace on the ball so as to deprive the better player of any rhythm. This had little effect on the Scot who was imperiously efficient in the first set, breaking at the first opportunity and moving swiftly to take the set.

It was the next set that placed Murray under severe scrutiny. He broke first before giving up two service games to a dogged Youzhny, one on a double fault. There was then an air of apprehension inside Centre Court.

Murray had plotted his way cleverly to the fourth round. As other seeds were cast to the wind, the Scot kept his feet planted in the tournament, his arms briskly firing winners. Yesterday, though, Youzhny, growling like a bear every time he won an important point, looked to be taking Murray, at least, beyond three sets for the first time in the tournament.

The Murray tics were present. He clutched his back on occasion just above his hip, his pace to the chair was heavy. Yet he also retained those traits that have made him a grand slam winner and the second best player in the world.

His array of shots was astonishing. He lobbed Youzhny with delicate hands and devilish spin, he placed his serves cleverly and with sufficient power and he put enough pressure on his opponent to break back and take the set to a tiebreak. He gave his opponent a mini break with a double fault but, again, he rallied with an astonishing drop shot rescuing a break and a sustained period of authoritative play taking the last four points.

Murray celebrated gleefully. "I was pretty pumped up," he said, unnecessarily. "It was an important set, as well, because obviously I was up a break, then down a break. He served for the set. Then I had chances to break at five-all. There was a lot of to-ing and fro-ing. That was a big set to win."

After the celebration, Murray then had a comfort break and Youzhny lay down to have his shoulder massaged. The crowd took a collective breath, knowing that an escape had been made. A defiant Youzhny forced two break points on Murray's first service game of the third set but these were saved and the Scot raced to victory.

Now Verdasco awaits. The name has changed but the same storyline will be told: the path to the meeting with Djokovic is smooth, unhindered.

Murray, though, insists with reason that this is a tournament when nothing can be taken for granted. On the day when Williams' exit left the women's tournament wide open, he said: "When those sort of results can happen to a player as good as her, there's absolutely no reason why it can't happen to me. That's why I'm not getting ahead of myself, and no-one else should."

He will search today for a left-hander to provide preparation for the meeting with Verdasco. The quest for a historic Wimbledon title continues.