It was one of those sporting moments to treasure when the British No 1 hit a service winner to complete a 5-7 3-6 7-6 6-2 6-4 triumph which had seemed a remote possibility two hours earlier.

A mighty cheer shook the arena to its foundations as the crowd hailed a new hero.

Gasquet dominated the first three sets with shot-making of the highest calibre.

His backhand flowed superbly as he controlled the rallies in a manner which left few loopholes of optimism for the understandably subdued Murray.

All that Murray had to fall back on was a stubborn refusal to yield and his resistance paid glorious dividends after Gasquet wasted his chance of victory by failing to hold serve at 5-4 in the third set.

This led to a tie-break which Murray grabbed greedily. Suddenly it was a different contest.

The last shot of the tie-breaker was one of the great shots of the Championships as Murray almost ran into the crowd to find a winning reply to Gasquet's acutely angled volley.

It was a touch of genius which turned the match.

Gasquet suddenly looked ragged as Murray fed off the crowd's support and the Frenchman would like to have halted the match as the light faded. Referee Andrew Jarrett quite rightly ruled otherwise and at 9.30pm – after three hours and 57 minutes – the galvanised Scot sealed a fist-pumping comeback. What a finish: what a match.

Elsewhere, Roger Federer, oozed elegance and poise as he removed the 2002 title holder Leyton Hewitt 7-6 6-2 6-4.

Hewitt is not the tearaway competitor he was – it was 39 minutes before he uttered his trademark 'come on!' – and after a close first set Federer assumed command.

He occupied a plateau of efficiency which left Hewitt and his suspect hip floundering in the foothills.

Meanwhile there were rumblings of discontent among the women.

Second seeded Jelena Jankovic, hampered by an injured knee as she went down 6-3 6-2 to Thailand's Tamarine Tanasugarn, was a bit miffed about being relegated to Court 18. She felt top-seeded players should be allotted courts which reflected their status.

"I was almost playing in the parking lot," she said. "I almost needed a helicopter to go to my court."

Jankovic also brought Venus Williams into the equation.

She thought that putting the defending champion on Court 2 was another example of bad scheduling.

Venus, who survived comfortably against the Russian Alisa Kleybanova, would not be drawn into the argument, but obviously felt some sympathy for it as did sister Serena, another Court 2 consignee. One feels the ladies made their point.