Andy Murray prepared for his Wimbledon quarter-final against Spain's Juan Carlos Ferrero today with an extraordinary calorie intake — including pizza, sushi and home baking.

Team Murray swung into action after the Briton's fourth round clash on Monday with Stanislas Wawrinka finished after nearly four hours at 10.38pm.

The humidity inside the Centre Court, with the new roof closed, had sapped Murray's energy and he had lost at least four pounds in weight.

His mother Judy and girlfriend Kim Sears were dispatched to Pizza Express in Wimbledon village to collect an 11-inch margherita pizza, while his coaching team mapped out an extraordinary diet for the next 24 hours.

The restaurant, which had shut down its ovens as it was close to midnight, agreed to fire them up again especially for the Wimbledon star.

Manager Anton Gjoni, 40, said staff were only too happy to prepare the cheese and tomato pizza for their “hero”.

“His mother asked us to make a pizza for Andy so we asked the chef to relight the oven. The chef was already changed and about to go home and it took the oven about 15 minutes to warm up again but he was happy to do it — he is our own hero.”

The average recommended calorie intake for a man of Murray's age is about 2,500 a day, but the 22-year-old star normally consumes around 3,000-4,000 to replace the energy burned off by his strict fitness regime.

His fitness team Jez Green and Matt Little and physio Andy Ireland were happy with the pizza which gave him a 674-calorie kickstart and yesterday and this morning, he kept on eating for Britain.

A source close to Murray said: “After a game he would normally eat only half of that but after an exhausting match like the one on Monday, he had to refill with calories. He does love the odd biscuit as well — and chocolate.”

Much of Murray's menu consists of high quality carbohydrates designed to give him sustained energy in the 90 degree heat. However, as a treat his grandmother Shirley Erskine brought him his favourite shortcake which she prepared at home.

Murray, who is 6ft 3in and whose ideal weight is 84kg, has said his favourite food is sushi and that, at times, he can eat more than 20 pieces in one sitting. In the players' restaurant inside the All England Club he was treated to a “mountain of sushi”.

Five more eating sessions followed to take his calorie intake up to the 6,000 mark.

Murray went to bed at about 10.30pm last night to ensure quality sleep.

He thanked Pizza Express on Twitter by writing: “before i forget, thanks a lot to pizza express wimby village for firing up their ovens after they shut last night just for me. really kind.”

Murray also insisted he loved playing under Centre Court's new roof.

The British No 1 had criticised Wimbledon officials for not giving him enough notice that he would be playing under cover in his last match and called the conditions on court “humid” and “slow”.

But he tried to end the controversy by writing on his twitter page: “see you all tomorrow. one last thing... i loved playing under the roof even if you've read different! the atmosphere was amazing, just very humid.”

The All England Club today confirmed that 28 workers at the championships have been sent home because of suspected swine flu. A spokeswoman said catering staff, a broadcast centre worker and ball boys and ball girls had been affected. Slovakian players Michael Mertinak and Filip Polasek and American Travis Parrott have also been diagnosed with the condition.