It was the day Wimbledon changed for ever; the longest day, the day that day-night tennis came to the All England Club and the day that Andy Murray was taken to the veritable brink, responding with the characteristics of spirit and bravery that mark him out as a very special player. The resounding echoes of British support on Centre Court ought to stay with him for ever. He fell to his knees at the end, his body shuddering with relief.

Always a man to appreciate a rare occasion when he is in the midst of one, Murray discovered heroism aplenty to find a way past Stanislas Wawrinka, the Swiss, who performed so far above himself on the world's most famous court that he came agonisingly close to clinching the fourth-round victory that would have written his name into British sporting infamy.

Murray prevailed 2-6, 6-3, 6-3, 5-7, 6-3 and now meets Juan Carlos Ferrero, of Spain, in the last eight.

What a long day's journey into night. The British No 1, defending for all his worth and conjuring winners from improbable spots, had to play at an incredible level from the first point just to stay with an opponent who never flinched, never dropped his standards, never gave an inch, and eventually wore down the world No 18.

The only time that Wawrinka played tight shots was when he led 40-0 in the second game of the final set and was broken - which earned Murray a significant shift of momentum - and a couple of forehands in the eighth game of the decider. They were enough.

But what a feast this was. If there is a better match in these championships, one must be at courtside.

Those walking home in the dark last night were deep in debate, the overriding gist of which was that they had not seen the like of it before. When the match was scheduled for teatime, the powers-that-be did not expect it to be completed at last orders, but that is the new world of tennis in SW19, with the arrival of the canvas dome that is the new topping.

Wimbledon will remain primarily an outdoor daytime event, it was said when the roof was a twinkle in the All England Club's eye, when the cheque was paid, when it was raised high and when it was pulled shut for the first time across the championships. The promise was made to look a little wan when, as the cameras cut away to one of the most beautiful sunsets anyone could wish to see, Murray and Wawrinka played equally beautiful tennis while oblivious to the outdoors.

Whoever determined that they would walk out and play beneath the £80 million cover must have known that the standards they would reach would elevate the 2009 tournament to a level it had struggled to attain. Quite possibly, had the match started in real light, it might have been held over for the protagonists to endure a night every bit as sticky as the weather men had predicted.

Then again, Andrew Jarrett, the referee, could have plumped for Wimbledon's inaugural light-shade affair, closing the roof at the end of the third set. Whichever way you see it, with the lights on, the television ratings through the roof, night tennis at Wimbledon is here to stay.

The reason given to the crowd that the roof would remain shut, after a sprinkle first struck during the second set of Dinara Safina's victory over Amélie Mauresmo, was that there was a 70 per cent risk of a heavy downpour. The clouds promptly scattered.

Murray walked on clearly in a bit of a huff. He did not look happy to be playing indoors at an outdoor event, when it did not need to be that way. Wawrinka, who said that he did not adjust well to the night-time conditions at the US Open last year when he lost to Murray in straight sets, looked much more content and his winners pounded through the turf.

There was no way that Murray would cruise into the last eight. He was made to work perhaps harder than at any time to reach a grand-slam quarter-final, and that means harder than when recovering from two sets down to defeat Richard Gasquet, of France, at the same stage last year. Then, awaiting him in the last eight was Rafael Nadal, on a journey that would take him to the pinnacle of his sporting life.

Another Spaniard awaits tomorrow, although Ferrero - beaten comfortably by Murray in the semi-finals of the AEGON Championships - does not strike quite the same terror into the hearts and minds of the opposition as Nadal. He is to be underestimated, though, at everyone's peril.

Wawrinka was supposed to be a bit of a cuddly bunny - lovely chap, nice accent, incredible backhand but not quite possessing the sustainability to give Britain's great white hope a decent run. How bad he made everyone look. Wawrinka can never have played this well before, not even when defeating Roger Federer in Monte Carlo in April, and it was taking all of Murray's remarkable powers of composure and defensive nous to keep him at bay.

How he stayed in some of the rallies defied belief, for the depth of Wawrinka's ground strokes rarely wavered. The Swiss has always had a dreamy backhand and this was the perfect stage on which to show it off in its full glory. Murray, the world No 3, could never take a breather and even had to play one rally - almost winning it - with a ruptured string.

He led 3-0 in the final set and was pegged back to 3-3. The rallies became more torturous, more brilliant, more extraordinary. The Centre Court crowd loved them all, lived them all, luxuriated in them all. When Murray won, they knew that they had a champion in their midst.

Whether Wawrinka has softened him up so that he cannot defeat Federer in the final that is looking more probable by the day, we shall soon discover. “I tried everything,” Wawrinka said. He certainly did.

Five other memorable British indoor sporting achievements

- The final of the World Snooker Championship in 1985 pitted the world No 1 and defending champion, Steve Davis, against an Ulsterman with upside-down glasses. Davis took an 8-0 lead but Taylor fought back and the match was level at 17-17 at the start of a final frame that lasted until well after midnight. Davis needed only one of the last four colours to win, but Taylor potted them all to spark euphoria

- Britain's only gold medal at the past six Winter Olympics came in Salt Lake City in 2002 when they won the curling final on the last stone against Switzerland. The winning shot was delivered by Rhona Martin, a Glasgow housewife, and came after they had needed to win two tie-break matches to reach the semi-finals.

- John Regis led home a Great Britain one-two in the 200 metres at the World Indoor Championships in 1989. He ran a championship record time of 20.54sec to hold off Ade Mafe, his compatriot.

- The Laoshan Vélodrome in Beijing is some corner of a foreign field that is for ever England (and Scotland) after the results achieved there by Team GB in the 2008 Olympics. Britain won seven of the ten track events, plus three silver and two bronze medals.

- Even if Andy Murray wins Wimbledon, there is one feat Fred Perry achieved that he will surely never match. In 1929, four years before the first of his eight major lawn tennis titles and at the age of 19, Perry became the first Englishman to become world table tennis champion. He was the only non-Hungarian to win the title in its first eight years.