Andy Murray downs Wawrinka in floodlit epic

LONDON (Reuters) - Andy Murray needed all his resilience under a roof-covered, floodlit Centre Court to beat Swiss Stanislas Wawrinka 2-6 6-3 6-3 5-7 6-3 for a place in the quarter-finals at Wimbledon on Monday.

The British crowd thought the days of end-of-day nailbiters had gone with the retirement of Tim Henman, but the 22-year-old Scot put his fans through a nerve-wracking evening before booking his place in the last eight for the second year in a row.

"That was pretty special," Murray told the BBC in a courtside interview. "I thought Stan played a great match, the standard he set at the start of the match was hard to keep up with.

"I was getting tired at the end, I'm pretty sure this is the latest finish at Wimbledon. Always when you play indoors it's great, but when you have 15,000 supporting you it makes it extra special so thanks a lot."

In a match played with the Centre Court roof closed due to fears of thunderstorm interruptions, Wawrinka got off to a flier by surging to a 4-0 lead before sealing the opener in 34 minutes.

Third seed Murray levelled the match before a key break in game seven helped him to the third set and appeared to hand him the momentum before Wawrinka, who received treatment for a tight thigh, again refused to lie down and took it to a decider.

Murray broke in game eight of the fifth set and then held serve in front of an ecstatic crowd and now faces Spanish wildcard Juan Carlos Ferrero for a place in the semi-finals.

(Editing by Miles Evans)