Andy Murray was today continuing his bid to retain his Wimbledon title on a day billed as “the battle of the super coaches”.
The world number five was hoping to beat Grigor Dimitrov, whose girlfriend Maria Sharapova was knocked out of the tournament yesterday.
Murray’s quarter final clash was to be followed by Roger Federer’s against fellow Swiss player Stan Wawrinka.
On Court One, number one seed Novak Djokovic was playing Croat Marin Cilic.
The matches see four former Wimbledon champions turned “super coaches” pitted against each other — Amelie Mauresmo working with Murray, Stefan Edberg training Federer, Boris Becker coaching Djokovic and Goran Ivanisevic helping Cilic.
Speaking of Becker’s excitement over the rivalry, top seed Djokovic joked: “I expect him to come on to the court and play instead of us.” Hundreds joined the queue outside the All England Club this morning, where some fans had camped for two days to get a golden ticket — or pink wristband — to get them on to Centre Court to watch Murray in action.
Philippa Craig, 28, who runs a golf club in Cornwall, queued with her boyfriend Jamie Lumb, 26, a jet ski instructor, for two days.
They had Scottish and Union flags painted on their faces and wore matching vests that read: “Come on Murray!” and “Dimitrov who?!!”
Ms Craig said: “He’s on good form to win Wimbledon and [Rafael] Nadal’s out now.”
“It’s nice to have someone British to support who actually does well,” she added.
Marie Barker, 55, who is self-employed, and husband Sean, 50, a doctor, from North Yorkshire, also secured seats on Centre Court.
They said it was exciting to have Wimbledon greats back. Mrs Barker said: “It is strange that there are two Eighties champions coaching today.”
She added: “We’re absolutely going to be supporting Murray.”
