Andy Murray beat Marcos Baghdatis in the latest match ever to finish at Wimbledon, wrapping up a 7-5, 3-6, 7-5, 6-1 victory at 11.02 p.m. on Saturday underneath the Centre Court roof.
The deadline for stopping play under the roof is 11 p.m. but organisers allowed the match to continue as Murray was about to serve for the match. He served it out at love when Baghdatis sent his return long, setting off a raucous cheer from the home crowd.
The previous latest finish was 10.58 p.m.
“When I got to 4-1, I tried not to sit down, I’m glad they let us go a few more minutes,” Murray said. “I don’t know what the rules are. It’s maybe the first time it happened here.”
The roof was shut after the second set at around 9 p.m. as the sun was setting, and play resumed about 45 minutes later.
As Murray closed in on the victory, the normally so loud crowd started shushing between points to make sure play could continue on as quickly as possible. When the umpire allowed Murray to serve at 5-1, many stood up and cheered.
The fourth-seeded Murray is trying to become the first British man since Fred Perry in 1936 to win Wimbledon, and his chances have been boosted by Rafael Nadal getting knocked out in the second round.
