Andy Murray complained bitterly about conditions caused by Wimbledon’s new £80 million roof last night as he fought back from his biggest scare of this Wimbledon to win the most thrilling match of a tournament transformed by blazing floodlights.

The new Centre Court roof was fully closed for the first time for competitive action to allow Murray to complete a dramatic 2-6, 6-3, 6-3, 5-7, 6-3 win over Stanislas Wawrinka, of Switzerland, in 3hr 56min, with the rest of Wimbledon cloaked in darkness.

But he was not happy in the immediate aftermath of success. “We were sending for towels from the locker rooms because we were sweating so much,” Murray said. “My hands were drenched as though I had been in the bath. I struggled to serve because the ball wasn’t leaving the racket very quickly. After my first service game, I thought they had turned the lights up but the umpire said they hadn’t.”

This was Wimbledon for the 21st century, the Centre Court bathed in light with Murray playing under carefully controlled conditions late into the night, the epic contest engaging not just the 15,000 spectators in the extraordinary new stadium but an entire nation. Those who saw it will talk of this night for years to come.

Murray, though, criticised the authorities for not giving the players enough time to prepare to play under the roof for the first time and complained that the atmosphere was hot and humid and the court heavy.

If the artificial conditions, at a regulated temperature of 24C, were not to Murray’s liking, the rest of the world was delighted by the chance to watch tennis late into the night. The BBC, consumed by the soap opera of a young man attempting to become the first British player to win the Wimbledon men’s singles title in 73 years, abandoned its schedules, even switching its biggest soap, EastEnders, to BBC Two so that millions could watch the drama uninterrupted until Murray struck his final forehand winner at 10.38pm.

And what drama it was, with Wawrinka, seeded No 19 and not even mentioned as a live outsider, seizing the initiative from one of the tournament favourites and refusing to be intimidated by the lights, the roof or the partisan crowd. It needed every ounce of Murray’s determination to be Wimbledon champion to clamber back into the match.

Judy, Murray’s mother and mentor, had jumped to her feet to roar encouragement from the players’ enclosure, anxiety written all over her face, while Ewan McGregor, film star and fellow Scot, was just as vocal, joined by a Centre Court crowd so often criticised this year as being too subdued.

The All England Club, like nervous children with a new toy, have had an itchy finger poised over the button to close the new roof all tournament. At 4.34pm yesterday, their chance came as the first raindrops plopped during the fourth-round tie between Amélie Mauresmo and Dinara Safina. It took seven minutes for the 1,000 tonnes of steel and translucent fabric to crank across the court. With thundery showers threatening, it was decreed that the roof should stay on all night.

For Murray now, there is the prospect of a surprise quarter-final opponent in Juan Carlos Ferrero, who came into Wimbledon on a wild card. After a trying night, Murray should be warned: the last wild card to reach the Wimbledon quarter-finals was Goran Ivanisevic in 2001. He beat Tim Henman in a semi-final dramatically affected by rain stoppages before going on to win the tournament.