Andy Murray reached the Wimbledon final for the second year running with a dramatic win over Poland’s Jerzy Janowicz under the Centre Court roof.
The Briton, 26, was furious when play was stopped after the third set because of fading light, but he returned to complete a 6-7 (2-7) 6-4 6-4 6-3 victory.
Murray will play Novak Djokovic for the title on Sunday, when he will hope to make up for last year’s final defeat by Roger Federer and end Britain’s 77-year wait for a men’s singles champion.
Djokovic took nearly five hours to beat Juan Martin del Potro in the first semi-final, meaning Murray had to wait until 18:19 BST to fire down the first serve of his match.
The late start would prove significant a little over two hours later, after Murray raced through five straight games to win the third set and take control of a match that had been slipping away.
With the time now past 20:30, tournament referee Andrew Jarrett arrived on court to announce the roof would be brought across because of fading light.
“It’s unfair, it’s an outdoor tournament,” Murray complained. “You’re only doing it because he’s been complaining about it for 45 minutes.”
He would return to finish the job in impressive style, but the Briton had struggled to contain 22-year-old Janowicz in the early stages.
“It was a very tough match and completely different to any other match I’ve had here this year,” Murray told BBC Sport.
“He’s talented and unpredictable, he has huge serves, which give you very little rhythm to come back at him.
“It’s a tough situation, there was about 45 minutes of daylight left [when the decision to close the roof was made].
“It’s an outdoor event and we should play as much outdoors as we can. And I’d won five games in a row. But I took a shower, spoke to the guys and got to back work.”
The 6ft 8in Pole was playing in his first Grand Slam semi-final, but showed no sign of nerves early on as he saved one break point and two set points with huge second serves.
There was little Murray could do to avoid the lottery of a tie-break, and Janowicz hammered his way to four set points with his forehand before the under-pressure Briton conceded the first with a double fault.
If Janowicz had looked remarkably composed in the opening 50 minutes, the occasion appeared to finally take some toll at the start of the second when two double faults helped give Murray the perfect start.
It was far from plain sailing for the Scot as he teetered on the brink of handing back his advantage several times, but he held on to level after one hour and 33 minutes.
With the time approaching 20:00 BST and the prospect of the light becoming an issue, Janowicz demanded umpire Jake Garner “tell me exactly the time” of when the roof might be closed.
Despite his annoyance, it was the Pole who pressed hard early in the third set and, after Murray saved two break points with aces, Janowicz finally converted at the seventh time of asking with a deadly drop shot.
Murray needed help from somewhere at 4-1 down in the third, and it came via a net cord that offered up a break point he grabbed with a flashing winner.
Belief coursed through the player and the crowd of 15,000 on Centre Court, along with thousands watching the nearby big screen, and Murray reeled off five games to take a two sets to one lead.
It was at that point the players headed for the locker room as the roof came across, and both must have been well aware that Janowicz won their last meeting at the Paris Masters in November, where the indoor conditions made the Pole’s serve even more dangerous.
If Murray was also spooked by memories of last year’s final, when his fortunes faded under the roof, there was no sign of it on the resumption.
Far from it, the Scot played superbly on the restart, curling a forehand winner down the line on his way to break in game three and backing it up with some dominant serving.
Janowicz was a beaten man by the time two double faults in a row brought up match point for Murray, and the world number two cracked a forehand return winner to keep his Wimbledon title hopes alive.
