Prince of darkness Murray works a miracle to roar back and win an epic against Gasquet

Andy Murray produced the performance that could be the new dawn for his career in the gloaming of Centre Court last night. This display of bloody-minded brilliance is what we have all been waiting for, at 9.30pm last night the British No 1 staging an astonishing comeback to beat Richard Gasquet 5-7, 3-6, 7-6, 6-2, 6-4.

Prince of darkness: Andy Murray celebrates his late night win over Richard Gasquet

Having broken back to save himself when the world No 10 Frenchman served for it at 5-4 in the third, the 21-year-old Scot left the stage with the crowd shouting his name.

The British No 1 walked on to court as a tetchy young Scot and left it, nearly four hours later, something approaching a national icon. Simplistic perceptions will surely shift after a performance of bloody-minded brilliance that left south west London chanting his name like he had been born on Wimbledon High Street.

The starchy old arena has rarely seen an evening that compares, a show of belligerent determination that saw Murray transform the tepid home surrender into the Greatest Show on Earth.

Here's how fit I am: Murray flexes his muscles after his dramatic win

Pity poor Richard Gasquet, who had dazzled and bemused his opponent for more than half of this contest,  serving for it at 5-4 in the third set before going down 5-7, 3-6, 7-6, 6-2, 6-4.

In the end he was outfought and outmuscled, all those hours in the gym and on the track paying off, with Murray showing off his right bicep to his back-up team in the stands amid the tumultuous end.

Amazingly, he was serving with more venom in the closing stages than he had been early on, a complete reversal from a few years ago when your feared he might keel over after anything more than a brisk three-setter.

Appropriately enough, his endurance brought to mind Rafael Nadal, the iron man who is next up tomorrow in what will be Murray's first Grand Slam quarter-final. The Scot is young and fit but, if three hours and 57 minutes of physical and emotional exertion have taken their toll, it will be even harder.

His show of strength in the gloaming was all too much for the despairing Gasquet, consumed by negative thoughts about the light and complaining to the umpire. Nobly, the Frenchman declined to whinge afterwards, but he had a right to because, once Murray had made the decisive break at the start of the final set, the odds were heavily in the home player's favour.

Walking off into the sunset: Murray savours his victory

Something of an underachiever, Gasquet has sometimes been accused of having a heart the size of a petit pois, but he handled the occasion beautifully in the opening sets and hung in gamely at the death when Murray was rampant.

Ultimately, though, he blinked first - and not just because of the light. With Murray racing out of his chair at the changeovers in impressive shows of intent, the laser-guided groundstrokes and fluent serve and volleying gradually disappeared.

Gasquet is fond of the Idiot Boy look with his baseball cap on back to front, but there was nothing unintelligent about his play in a first set of often breathtaking quality.

His signature shot is his single fisted backhand, delivered with a flourish reminiscent of a conductor waving his baton, but it was the forehand that crunched out the warning about what would happen to anything vaguely short.

He also indulged in a clever mix of serve and volleying, and staying back, gaining great success against Murray's forehand jab returns. The forehand is Murray's less reliable side under pressure, but it was the serve that showed how he was feeling the weight of expectation.

The final game of a mesmeric first set was memorable, notably for two brilliant scurried backhands at the net to save set point that brought a roar the equal of anything Tim Henman ever extracted here. Even the Australian contingent went ballistic, but it was not enough.

It's nearly my bedtime: Murray can't believe he's missed supper as dusk falls on Wimbledon

The inability to land the first serve - its percentage collapsing to 42 per cent by the end of the first set and causing a hangover into the second - was skewing Murray's mindset. Failed dropshots helped gift the early break and progress to a two-set lead was only interrupted when a line judge snitched on Murray for an obscenity that hardly anyone, including TV, could hear.

Five break points were saved in the fifth game of the third set and it appeared to be over when the Frenchman broke for 5-4. Only then did we see a first crack in his Gallic insouciance, nervous errors capped by a double fault to gift Murray the break he had worked so hard for.

On set point at 6-3 in the tiebreak, Gasquet hit a sharp angled volleyed that looked a winner. Murray dashed to retrieve it 10 yards out of court and squeezed it round the netpost for a winner. Yes, this is what the fuss has been about.

Out reach: Richard Gasquet stretches for a return in his defeat to Andy Murray

The inability to land the first serve - its percentage collapsing to 42 per cent by the end of the first set and causing a hangover into the second - was skewing Murray's mindset. Failed dropshots helped gift the early break and progress to a two-set lead was only interrupted when a line judge snitched on Murray for an obscenity that hardly anyone, including TV, could hear.

Five break points were saved in the fifth game of the third set and it appeared to be over when the Frenchman broke for 5-4. Only then did we see a first crack in his Gallic insouciance, nervous errors capped by a double fault to gift Murray the break he had worked so hard for.

On set point at 6-3 in the tiebreak, Gasquet hit a sharp angled volleyed that looked a winner. Murray dashed to retrieve it 10 yards out of court and squeezed it round the netpost for a winner. Yes, this is what the fuss has been about.