Andy Murray rallies for five-set win over Fernando Verdasco

WIMBLEDON, Britain -- Second-seeded Andy Murray came back from down two sets in the quarterfinals and kept alive his quest to become the first British man to win Wimbledon since Fred Perry in 1936.

With the crowd at Center Court roaring in support, Murray held off unseeded Fernando Verdasco of Spain, 4-6, 3-6, 6-1, 6-4, 7-5 on Wednesday.

“I came through an incredibly tough match. It could have gone the other way,” he told a TV interviewer afterward.

Murray has reached the Wimbledon semifinals for the fifth consecutive year. Roger Federer holds the Open-era record of seven consecutive semifinal appearances, from 2003 to 2009.

Murray’s semifinal match Friday against Jerzy Janowicz will be Murray’s 13th Grand Slam semifinal appearance, tying him with Perry for the most Grand Slam semifinal appearances by a British man.

Murray, 26, has reached the final of the last three Grand Slams in which he has competed: Wimbledon and the U.S. Open in 2012, and the 2013 Australian Open. He missed the French Open this year because of a back injury.

Murray said a combination of factors led to him losing the first two sets on Wednesday.

“He played extremely well, I thought, in the first set. The second set I made some poor choices and he served fantastically well,” Murray said. “He’s a very good player.”

But Murray was even better.

“He served unbelievably well. Especially when he was behind. He kept going for it,” Murray said. “I just managed to turn it round.”

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