Wimbledon 2012: Andy Murray vs Jo-Wilfried Tsonga - Live on BBC 1

Andy Murray will aim to become the first British man to reach the Wimbledon final for 74 years.

Today, Andy Murray will aim to become the first British man to reach the Wimbledon final for 74 years. The only thing standing in his way is Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. This will be the Scotsman€™s fourth semi-final attempt in as many years, but this time the odds are in Andy€™s favour. Tsonga has only 1 win in 6 over Murray on the head-to-head, but is positioned only two places behind him in the world rankings. Murray, who is ranking 4th in the world has already taken number 5 seed David Ferrer out of the tournament in Wednesday's quarter-final. Murray€™s overall career record is more impressive than his opponents, with 22 career titles and $20.6 in winnings compared to Tsonga€™s 8 titles and $9.2. Tsonga is also 2 years the senior of Murray, although this will not affect their play, as both opponents are at the top of their game, it does show that Murray has a achieved more in a shorter period of time. Andy is the bookies favourite with odds of 2/5 (you would get 40p from a £1 bet) verses Tsonga's odds of 2/1 (you would get £2 from a £1 bet). On paper Murray is a better player, but as we saw with the shock exit of Rafa Nadal to the unknown Czech Lukas Rosol; in tennis, anything is possible. An important factor going into the match, is that Murray has the home advantage, today he will walk out onto court to thousands of fans shouting his name. This is no minor factor and Murray himself has stated that he hopes the home crowd can encourage him to raise his game. Hopefully Murray will not be thinking about the years of British failure as he steps on the to the court later this afternoon, hopefully he can withstand the pressure and make Wimbledon history.
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