Andy Murray raised the roof last night as he fought through to the Wimbledon quarter-finals in an epic five-set battle.

The 22-year-old Scot became the first player to start a match beneath Centre Court's new state-of-the-art canopy when he walked out to face friend and practice partner Stanislas Wawrinka.

In the air conditioned arena, beneath artificial light, and in front of a deafening crowd, Murray won a nail-biting encounter 2-6, 6-3, 6-3, 5-7, 6-3, taking three hours and 57 minutes.

British tennis fans were on their feet as Murray dropped to his knees on the verge of tears.

Looking emotional, the world No 3 said: "It was pretty special. I thought Stan played a great match.

"The standard that he set at the start of the match was very tough to keep up with and I was getting tired towards the end."

He said he did not always take his chances but "stayed tough".

"It was great. Always when you play indoors the atmosphere is great, but when you've got 15,000 people supporting you it makes it extra special, so thanks a lot.

"I'll have a pretty deep sleep after that one. It was a great day."

As darkness fell outside, the stadium lights stayed on. And the drama of the match also lit up the arena.

Murray berated himself on several occasions, bashing his fist against the strings of his racket, hammering his head and shouting with frustration.

But when he came back to lead two sets to one many people in the crowd allowed themselves to relax a little.

It was too soon. Wawrinka, the Swiss 19th seed, fought back, winning the fourth set and taking it to a fifth.

This was history in the making – the roof allowed the latest ever championship play, with the match not finishing until 10.38pm.

Murray, who is bidding to become the first British man to win the championships since Fred Perry in 1936, only needs to win two more matches to take his place in the final.

His opponent in the next round is Spaniard Juan Carlos Ferrero, a former world No 1 now ranked 70, who lost to the Scot earlier this month at Queen's.

Ferrero said: " I have to do my job, be aggressive all the time, because he likes to play in one level and then he changes rhythm very fast.

"He's at home and he wants to win and everybody wants him to win, so it's going to be tough."