Sky Sports.com - Wimbledon 2008

In the enveloping gloom and mounting frenzy something vaguely spiritual happened on Centre Court last night.

The Wimbledon crowd and that generously gifted, but suspicious young Scot Andy Murray decided to be best friends after all.

It happened when his opponent, the similarly gifted Frenchman Richard Gasquet, served for a place in the quarter-finals, deservedly leading by two sets to love and 5-4. Another plucky British loser you would have thought at that point.

But no. Murray exploded into brilliance and sheer inspiration took over. In minutes the balance of power had shifted across the net and by 9.30pm, and after almost four hours on court, Murray was through to his very first Grand Slam quarter-final and the crowd loved it.

It means of course Rafael Nadal is next and though sport endlessly demonstrates that the impossible is achievable I can offer no reasonable case for anything other than Murray's defeat tomorrow.

He's tried and failed to find a way through Nadal's almost impenetrable defence in three matches now, but did take him to five sets at the Australian open in 2007. Whatever happens it will no doubt be a battle.

Class

Looking beyond our domestic interest and what I thought would be the first real litmus test for Roger Federer this year didn't prove to be as conclusive as I would have imagined.

He was up against the former world number one Lleyton Hewitt, who has a continuing hip problem and after losing a crucial first set tie-break - during which a hawk eye line challenge went against him - he was never the same fire breathing Aussie that we have come so accustomed to.

Federer on the other hand oozed princely class coming through in straight sets 7-6, 6-2, 6-4. Next for him is a real oddity served up by fate as he takes on Mario Ancic in the quarter-finals. Ancic is a natural grass court serve and volleyer from Croatia and is also of course the last man to beat Federer on grass back in the dark ages... well 63 matches ago.

Supporting Ancic from the stands will be the ever present Srdjan Ivanisevic, the father of you know who. Goran, he says, is at home on his boat.

Seeds

Onto the ladies and it might as well be spring with the amount of seed scattering that has been going on.

The consequence is that for the first time in the history of Open Tennis - that is since the game became honestly professional - none of the top four seeds have made it into the quarter-finals of a Grand Slam Championship.

Ana Ivanovic, Jelena Jankovic, Maria Sharapova and Svetlana Kuznetsova have all been dumped out of this year's Wimbledon, but there is also another name missing and I want to mention it now.

Justine Henin is one of the most athletic and graceful players that I have ever seen. She is missing because she recently announced her retirement from the professional game at the age of just 26.

Henin has found happiness elusive in her private life and this has been one of the overriding reasons for her retirement I feel. But like many I just hope that she wakes up one morning, feels refreshed and decides to comeback and finish what she was born to do.

Nonsense

I suppose I should also mention the departing second seed, Jelena Jankovic's grouchiness over the court she was allocated yesterday. Jankovic claimed that court 18 was so far away that she thought she would have to get a helicopter to it!

The Williams sisters, who are almost certainties to meet each other in the final now, were also less than impressed at having to play on Court No.2. Sorry to sound sharp, but I say nonsense!

The Wimbledon referee who decides these matters is the former British Davis Cup player Andrew Jarrett and on the order of play committee that supports him is the former Wimbledon champion Ann Jones - not the privileged and anonymous are these two. So come on girls, get on with it.