Murray faces stress hurdle for final place

Men’s Singles Semi-finals Today Federer vs Djokovic 13:30 SS2 Tsonga vs Murray 17:30 SS2

Friday, July 06, 2012
The dream of winning Wimbledon lives on for Murray. Net photo.

Men’s Singles Semi-finalsTodayFederer vs Djokovic 13:30 SS2Tsonga vs Murray 17:30 SS2LONDON – Andy Murray must overcome stress and British expectations as much as French opponent Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in his best chance yet to reach a first Wimbledon final.The fourth seed thrilled an expectant Centre Court crowd by fighting back from a set down to beat Spaniard David Ferrer 6-7 7-6 6-4 7-6 in a rain-disrupted quarter-final on Wednesday and set up a last-four meeting with fifth seed Tsonga.Murray, seeking to become the first British man to reach the Wimbledon final since 1938, said that to cope with the huge expectations he ignored outside opinion and focused on his inner circle."Subconsciously, I’m probably pretty stressed out right now but I try not to show it,” he told a news conference."Obviously, the pressure is there, if I thought too much about it, it would become too much, but if you shield yourself and listen only to those around you, you can manage. "And they give you the confidence you need,” he added.Murray had been drawn to face Rafa Nadal, his conqueror in two of his previous three semi-finals, but the Spanish world number two suffered a shock second-round defeat.