The two singles clashes I had the good fortune to watch provided a welcome reminder of the quality outside of the big four of Andy Murray, Rafael Nadal, the ageless Roger Federer and all-conquering Novak Djokovic, until last week that is. However, you couldn’t help but escape the feeling that bigger stories were unfolding elsewhere.

At first there were the eerie murmurs of the crowd when it flashed up on the scoreboard, during a break in play, that the Swiss maestro Federer had lost the opening set of his match against Croatia’s Marin Cilic. Those murmurs became more of a frantic chatter when it became apparent that Cilic had claimed the second set, with the expectancy that the seven-time champion was on his way out.

Then, from the distance, came cheers. As the celebratory noise from a mix of Centre Court and Henman Hill became louder and more frequent, it was obvious that Federer, who appears to be a crowd favourite wherever he goes, was mounting a stunning comeback.

Whispers of Cilic’s match points had a large number of Court One reaching for their phones as the fourth set tie-break unfolded elsewhere. However, before anyone’s electronic devices had the chance to update, a roar of approval confirmed that the Swiss had drawn level and taken the match to a decider.

I am sure that when Canada’s Milos Raonic and the United States’ Sam Querrey had left the court after their tie, they could have had a pretty good stab at getting the score right in the other match, purely due to the crowd’s reactions.

There was also a rush to depart Court One after the Czech Republic’s Tomas Berdych cruised to a straight sets victory over France’s Lucas Pouille, due to the ongoing tie-break between home favourite Andy Murray and France’s Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. The vast majority congregated by one of several automatic scoreboards dotted around the All-England Club, left staring at the tie-break score of 11-10, before further cheers and applause when the number next to Murray’s name flickered to 12 to give the Briton the first set.

When watching the concluding four sets of the Murray and Tsonga epic on the big screen, it became even clearer of the importance of the mental side of the game. For much of the third and fourth sets, when Tsonga was the dominant force in the tie, the frustration and outbursts which have been prevalent throughout Murray’s career were plain to see.

A brief row with the umpire and glances towards his support team reflected his anger at having lost control of the tie. Much has been made of Murray’s ability to fight back and the calming influence of eight-time Grand Slam winner Ivan Lendl on the Scot, which was again in evidence as Murray put the previous two sets behind him and battled back to win.

Perhaps, the mental side of the game is becoming more important than ever at the top level of the sport. Prior to the final set, Tsonga would have been the favourite with the majority of those watching across the world, with the momentum fully with the Frenchman. A couple of loose points later and the tables had turned and Murray was suddenly in charge and Tsonga seemingly caved en-route to a 6-1 loss in the final set.

Although undoubtedly a huge talent and boasting a physique which makes him capable of delivering an upset, Tsonga will continue to be dismissed as a major threat to secure Grand Slam titles. The ability to deliver when the pressure is at its greatest remains debatable.

By contrast, the likes of Djokovic carry an aura which suggests they will battle back from the jaws of defeat. The universal reaction to when the Serbian’s third round tie with Querrey was halted due to rain was to declare that Djokovic would win the tie, despite the world number one being two sets down at the time. With Querrey having had a night to sleep on the possibility of creating the biggest upset of the tournament and allowing the reality of his position to set in, Djokovic nearly brought about the comeback as despite remaining well under par, he began to pray on his opponent's nerves. 

It was fascinating to watch Querrey from the stands during his quarter-final tie with Raonic. In many ways the two men were similar to watch, standing at well over six foot tall and boasting powerful serves. While Raonic boasted the slight edge throughout most of the baseline rallies, neither player had really been able to threaten to break serve during the opening set. When the possibility looked like arising on Querrey’s serve, the American often produced aces to nip any concerns in the bud.

That was until he was forced to serve to stay in the set. With the pressure placed firmly on his shoulders and Raonic effectively able to swing freely, having been assured of at least a tie-break, Querrey made errors which were uncharacteristic compared with the rest of the set. An almost identical situation unfolded in the second set of the tie, with an extremely closely fought match suddenly looking one-sided due to two loose games from Querrey. Similarly, it could be argued that Raonic himself had felt the pressure after he was broken when serving for a place in a Grand Slam semi-final for only the second time in his career, during the third set.

Perhaps then it is no surprise that the Canadian, like so many other top players, has recruited a former Grand Slam champion in John McEnroe to help find a further edge as he tries to secure his first Wimbledon title. With so little to choose beaten the top players at the top of the men’s game, the ability of Djokovic, Federer and Murray to cope under intensive pressure seems crucial to setting them apart. Could it be key to Federer and Murray securing their places in the Wimbledon final later today?