NADAL ROLLS AT WIMBLEDON TENNIS, MURRAY HOLDS OFF FOGNINI TO REACH SECOND WEEK

Abundant sunshine has been the theme of Wimbledon’s first week, to the extent that the Centre Court roof has not been closed a single time. It was one point away from being forced to do so on Friday evening–because of darkness; not rain.

But Andy Murray had other ideas.

Murray fought off five set points in the fourth and avoided being pushed to a decider thanks to a 6-2, 4-6, 6-1, 7-5 victory over Fabio Fognini. The world No. 1 broke serve seven times and recovered from a 5-2 deficit in the fourth to prevail after two hours and 39 minutes. It ended just before 9:00 p.m., moments before the Jo-Wilfried Tsonga vs. Sam Querrey match on Court 2 was suspended with Querrey leading 6-5 in the fifth set and on serve.

“Right now I don’t feel really happy, but I’m really, really happy about my performance, my tennis,” Fognini explained. “Because most of the time when I was playing…it was better than him. But when I went 5-2 up in the fourth he [started] playing really [well]. Nothing to say. Right now of course I’m not happy, but remember he’s No. 1 in the world. Most of the time I was playing better than him. That’s the sport.”

“Ultimately it worked out great in that respect,” Murray said of finishing before a roof closure became necessary. “It was obviously great to come back there and finish it at the end. It was actually quite dark. It was really dark.”

Following a three-set women’s battle between Victoria Azarenka and Heather Watson on Centre Court, Rafael Nadal helped speed up the process by beating Karen Khachanov in straights. Not too much unlike Fognini, Khachanov had chances to make things even more competitive than they turned out to be–only to see those opportunities go by the wayside. Nadal saved a set point at 5-6, 30-40 in the third before sealing the deal 6-1, 6-4, 7-6(3) in two hours and 15 minutes.

“For a set and a half I was playing fantastic,” Nadal assessed, “then little bit worse. But in general terms (I was playing)very well; very happy.”

“It’s a great experience,” Khachanov commented. “I played in Roland Garros also against Andy on center court. Now here in Wimbledon. It’s nice to play on these kind of courts against the best players. That’s what I’m really working to and really happy to be [in] that moment.”

Ricky contributes to 10sballs.com and also maintains his own tennis website, The Grandstand. You can follow him on twitter at @Dimonator.