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LONDON. — Andy Murray survived a five-set roller-coaster to defeat battling Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 7-6 (12-10), 6-1, 3-6, 4-6, 6-1 and reach his seventh Wimbledon semi-final last night.

Second seed Murray, the 2013 champion at the All England Club, goes on to face Czech 10th seed Tomas Berdych tomorrow in what will be his 20th semi-final at the majors.

It was 29-year-old Murray’s 13th win in 15 match-ups with 12th seeded Tsonga and his 100th career grass court win.

But like Roger Federer, who came back from two sets down to beat Marin Cilic earlier in the day on Centre Court, Murray did it the hard way.

Having looked in cruise control after two sets, he lost his way against the big-serving Tsonga, who was chasing a third appearance in the semi-finals.

Murray rallied impressively in the decider, screaming out to his box ‘there’s no way I’m losing this match’ before making good on his rallying call.

Murray’s first problem of the quarter-final was to get grit out of his right eye.

It wasn’t too much of a distraction as he broke for 3-2 before Tsonga returned the favour for 4-4. Both men wasted three set points apiece in the ensuing tie-break before Murray pocketed it, just about fair reward for his high-speed scrambling.

The second set went by in a flash with Murray easing through in 26 minutes, a whole 50 minutes quicker than the marathon opener.

Tsonga, 31, looked down and out but suddenly called on a new source of energy to secure the third set courtesy of a break in the seventh game.

Murray ranted with himself and umpire Fergus Murphy as he went completely off the boil and Tsonga levelled an increasingly tense quarter-final.

But buoyed by his own passionate war cry, Murray raced to a 5-0 lead in the decider before sealing victory with a 15th ace after four hours of breathless ups and downs.

Roger Federer staged a sensational Wimbledon escape act as the seven-time champion saved three match points and came from two sets down to clinch a semi-final clash with Milos Raonic.

Federer fought back from the brink in a Centre Court thriller as the world No 3 defeated Croatian ninth seed Marin Cilic 6-7 (4/-7), 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (11/-9), 6-3 to reach a record-equalling 11th semi-final at the All England Club.

The 34-year-old also claimed a new record for Grand Slam match wins of 307 as he made a 40th semi-final at the majors.

Federer’s dramatic triumph was his 84th win at Wimbledon — taking him level with Jimmy Connors — and gave him a semi-final against Canadian sixth seed Raonic as he continues his pursuit of an 18th Grand Slam title and a record eighth All England Club crown.

“Marin is such a wonderful player and I knew I was in so much trouble in the third set and in the fourth,” said Federer.

“I just tried to stay in the match and hoped for his level to drop and get a bit lucky. That happened and obviously the breaker was crazy. — AFP.