Andy Murray vs. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga: Score and Reaction from 2016 Wimbledon

Andy Murray has reached the semi-finals of Wimbledon 2016, despite being dragged to a fifth set by Jo-Wilfried Tsonga on Wednesday.

Murray eventually beat the Frenchman 7-6(10), 6-1, 3-6, 4-6, 6-1 and will now face Tomas Berdych, who defeated Lucas Pouille earlier.

Murray was defending an exceptional record against French opponents, per British Tennis:

He'd also enjoyed a stellar history against Tsonga, according to BBC Tennis:

Like Berdych, Murray needed to survive a lengthy tiebreak before taking a gruelling opening set.

Tsonga took an early 2-1 lead after rescuing a break point in the opening set. But Murray was next to hold serve and even the score at two games apiece.

Murray didn't waste his next break point as he forced Tsonga into an overhit forehand to claim his third game of the set. The Scot then saved a break point to hold for a 4-2 lead after a marathon game that saw both players deadlocked on deuce six times.

Yet just when it looked like Murray would pull away, Tsonga reeled off three games in a row to lead 5-4. Murray soon countered to push the set to a tiebreak, which the Scot eventually won 12-10 after finally taking set point at the fourth attempt.

BBC Radio 5 Live's David Law summed up the epic tiebreak with numbers that were heartbreaking from Tsonga's perspective:

Sky Sports pundit Jamie Carragher hailed Murray's quality on court:

Meanwhile, BBC Radio 5 Live's Georgie Ainslie felt the tension during the back-and-forth tiebreak:

A break point staked Murray into a two-game lead in the second, after Tsonga hit out off a backhand. By now, Murray was in complete control, a fact reaffirmed when he blanked Tsonga in the next game for a hat-trick of wins to start the second set.

Another break made it 4-0, before Murray eventually closed out the set to win 6-1 in comprehensive fashion.

His dominance was underlined by this statistic from the tournament's official site:

Still, Tsonga showed plenty of fight when he snatched a break point for a 3-1 lead in the third. Murray was clearly rattled when the set began to get away from him, as Eleanor Crooks of the Press Association detailed:

Tsonga held off a brief fightback to serve out for the set, marking the first Murray has dropped at this year's tournament.

Despite the minor setback, though, Matthew Dunn of the Daily Express didn't see any cause for concern:

He looked to be right when Murray salvaged a break point to hold and win the first game of the fourth. Later, another break carved out a 4-2 lead for Murray, after a game in which Tsonga was guilty of a pair of costly unforced errors.

But the Frenchman made up for those mistakes when he broke serve in the next game at the fourth attempt:

Tsonga's power game, particularly his forehands, were causing Murray a host of problems, and he soon evened things at four each. An exceptional break then put the Frenchman in front and made a fifth set a real possibility.

This time it was a backhand that left Murray frustrated. Matt Zemek of FanRagSports felt the Scot wasn't dealing with this particular shot:

Tsonga levelled things up at 2-2 and forced a deciding set, but the Scot responded in exactly the right way to begin the fifth, as Ben Rothenberg of the New York Times noted:

It was soon 4-0 after Murray completed a double break. After serving out for 5-0, he was left chasing another break for a place in the last four, but Tsonga held to postpone defeat.

His reprieve didn't last long, though, as Murray served out to end on the winning side over a marathon encounter.

Despite his inconsistencies today, Murray will still be expected to make easy work of beating Berdych, even if the 2010 finalist has the experience to cause some problems.

But with world No. 1 Novak Djokovic already sent packing, this is beginning to look like Murray's tournament to lose.