Andy Murray clambered into the Wimbledon quarter-finals late last night with an agonising performance in near-darkness that risked reducing the nation to nervous wrecks. It was straight from the Tim Henman handbook of Wimbledon torture, with a shaky start against Richard Gasquet, of France, followed by barnstorming tennis that had the Centre Court crowd on their feet after a match that lasted three hours and 58 minutes.

The BBC was even forced to delay the first episode of its multimillion-pound series, Criminal Justice, to make way for the Murray heroics. The BBC had billed its new show as a five-part thriller, but this time it was not a fictional drama but real-life, five-set theatre that captured the imagination.

From hopeless loser to glorious winner, even the most ardent Wimbledon supporter could not have written the script for a story that started in brilliant sunshine and ended as the light faded to night, with Murray coming from two sets and a break down to win memorably, 5-7, 3-6, 7-6, 6-2, 6-4.

Murray's match finished so late - at 9.31pm - that he arrived at his press conference clutching chop sticks and a plate of sushi. Between mouthfuls of rice and fish, he said: “The crowd were awesome. They were behind me like never before. It takes your mind off your physical state and it played a part at the end. In the first two sets, he completely outplayed me, he had no pressure, he was going for all his big shots and hitting his shots so hard and deep, I couldn't do anything about it.

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“But when the pressure started to tell, I took advantage. The end was awesome, almost pitch black, but fantastic for me. Coming back from two sets to love, playing well and the support makes that the best match I have played in.”

Gasquet, a semi-finalist last year, was always going to be a tricky opponent and it seemed for a while that Murray's strong start to the All England Championships had been a mirage. Shoulders were slumped and pens were poised to write off another British challenge. But there is steel to go with the sleek, new-look Murray and he clawed his way back into the match. He will need all that steel and more tomorrow when he faces Rafael Nadal in the quarter-final.

The Scot will not need reminding of Nadal's pedigree: he is the No 2 seed, last year's finalist and the French Open champion. Murray faces a huge test if he is to overcome the muscular Spaniard, who cruised through his match against Mikhail Youzhny, of Russia, in straight sets yesterday.

Murray has no fear, though. “I am going to have to recover really well with enough food in me and enough sleep to take on Nadal. But I think I can win,” he said.

Murray has forged his Wimbledon challenge in the furnace of the Centre Court after this amazing contest. The shaky, uncertain player of the first two sets was suddenly replaced by the flamboyant, all-action Murray of the final three.

It was breathlessly and agonisingly late, each point cheered to the rafters by Kim Sears, his girlfriend, and Judy, his mother. There was even a cheeky display of Murray muscles at the end to underline the staying power so often absent in times past.

There have been dark mutterings in the changing-rooms that Murray has been given too much prominence at these championships, playing an unprecedented four consecutive times on Centre Court while some of the biggest names at Wimbledon have been consigned to the outer reaches of the All England Club. But if Murray produces matches on this scale, surely no one will complain. The Centre Court at Wimbledon last night was an awesome and epic centre stage of the sporting world.