Andy Murray was angry that his fourth-round clash was played under the new $164 million centre court roof, but believes the steambath conditions could prove a powerful ally.

The third-seeded Briton reached the quarterfinals on Monday with a roller-coaster 2-6 6-3 6-3 5-7 6-3 win over Swiss 19th seed Stanislas Wawrinka in the latest finish in tournament history.

The tie, played under the new roof which was closed following earlier rain, ended at 10.39pm, beating the previous mark of 9.35pm in 1981.

Murray, bidding to become the first British men's Wimbledon champion since Fred Perry in 1936, faces Spain's Juan Carlos Ferrero for a place in the semifinals.

And despite his reservations, he believes he will have the advantage if that match is played under the gleaming roof.

"When you haven't experienced something before it's tough to just walk out there and know how the court's going to play," Murray said.

"Now I know how I'll have to change my game if I do play under the roof and I'll know the way that the court plays. In my opinion, there's quite a big difference."

Murray believes the court is different when it is covered, changing the dynamic of a grasscourt match.

"It's very heavy and very humid and you are sweating so much," he said. "I noticed it very early.

"When I finished, it was like I'd been in a bath. So it slowed down a lot and I struggled to serve because it wasn't coming off the strings that quickly."

The roof was closed earlier in the day when heavy rain briefly replaced the sunshine during the women's last 16 match between the top-seeded Russian Dinara Safina and France's Amelie Mauresmo.

Murray had been warming up in dry conditions and was surprised to be told just minutes before his match that the roof would remain shut.

"In my opinion a decision should be made before that match is finished so they can let the players know in a decent amount of time what conditions they're going to be playing under," Murray said.

"I like playing indoors. But when you haven't practised or played a match under a roof on grass you don't know what to expect."

The roof was closed when 2006 women's champion Mauresmo was 6-4 1-4 ahead of top seed Safina.

The players returned 45 minutes later, with the Frenchwoman eventually losing 4-6 6-3 6-4 to the world No. 1.

Murray is on course for a final against Roger Federer, but a wily Spaniard and a giant Croatian stand in their quarterfinal paths.

Murray has beaten Ferrero in their only previous meeting on grass, in the semifinals at Queen's this month.

Federer is playing his 25th grand slam quarterfinal while his Croatian opponent, Ivo Karlovic, has never got this far in the majors.

Germany's Tommy Haas, the oldest man in the draw at 31, faces Serbian Novak Djokovic, with the winner to face Federer or Karlovic.