Andy Murray survived an upset bid at Wimbledon with the help of his opponent's mental gaffe on a critical point
Andy Murray avoided a huge upset at Wimbledon when he staged a huge comeback in the fourth set, a comeback that was made possible by his opponent's mental gaffe on a critical point.
Murray led No. 28 seed Fabio Fognini two sets to one, but trailed 5-2 in the fourth set. After Murray won on his serve to make it 5-3, Fognini had two set points as it appeared the pair were destined to play a fifth set.
But then Fognini had a brain fart.
After Murray survived the first set point, Fognini stopped playing and asked for a challenge in the middle of the second set point. There was just one problem: Fognini was out of challenges and the point went to Murray.
Oof.
Murray would go on to win the next two points to break Fognini and then won the next three games, including the final game at love, to win the set and close out the match 3-1.
Who knows what would have happened had the pair gone to a fifth set. Complicating matters was that it was starting to get dark and it was unclear if the match would have continued with the roof closed or if play would have been suspended until Saturday.
At the very least, it was one fewer sets Murray had to play as he moves deeper into his attempt to win a third Wimbledon title.