WIMBLEDON, England — The first three entrants in the Wimbledon semifinals were off court and already preparing for their next matches, but Richard Gasquet and Stan Wawrinka stubbornly played on.
The light was fading, but their graceful one-handed backhands and explosive serves were not, nor were the audience’s reactions, which alternated between focused silence and enormous outbursts on virtually every point in a marathon fifth set.
Without the benefit of a tiebreaker in the fifth set, the two men played on until the 20th game, when Gasquet finally broke Wawrinka’s serve to win, 6-4, 4-6, 3-6, 6-4, 11-9, in the only thriller of the men’s quarterfinals.