Andy Murray reacts to a point on his way to a five-set victory over Stanislas Wawrinka at Wimbledon Monday. The match was the first to be played entirely with Centre Court's new roof closed.

WIMBLEDON, England — The first match played entirely under Wimbledon's new retractable roof produced a five-set marathon that finished later than any previous Centre Court encounter in history.

They might as well have called it Wimbledon's first "night session."

What's more, it ended with a British winner celebrating in front of a raucous home crowd.

Andy Murray and Stanislas Wawrinka battled for nearly four hours Monday under the translucent roof and stadium floodlights before the third-seeded Scot closed out a 2-6, 6-3, 6-3, 5-7, 6-3 victory with a forehand winner at 10:39 p.m.

Murray sank to his knees and bowed his head on the grass. He then stood up and smacked a ball that hit the roof above.

"It was pretty special," said Murray, who is bidding to become the first British man to win Wimbledon since Fred Perry in 1936.

Previously, no Centre Court match had lasted later than 9:35 p.m.

And at a tournament that began in 1877, not a single point had been played indoors until earlier Monday, when a light sprinkle interrupted Dinara Safina's 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 victory over champion Amelie Mauresmo — the first rain break of the tournament after a dry first week.

After the fifth game of the second set, the roof was closed, and Safina and Mauresmo finished up — even though by the time they resumed, the rain had stopped.

Organizers decided to keep the roof closed for the Murray-Wawrinka match in case of more rain. In the end, the rain stayed away but the roof allowed the match to reach its completion while it was dark outside.

Murray was surprised by the decision and found the playing conditions hard to get used to.

"We were warming up outside," he said. "It was dry. Was expecting to play without the roof, and then obviously it came. I had never played a grass court match indoors before and it made a difference."

"It's very, very heavy and very humid," he said. "Sweating so much."

Murray, who will face Juan Carlos Ferrero in the quarters, could now enjoy an advantage over players who haven't experienced the indoor conditions.

The women's quarterfinals were set for today. Due up first on Centre Court was top-ranked Dinara Safina against 19-year-old German Sabine Lisicki, followed by No. 2 Serena Williams vs. 19-year-old Victoria Azarenka of Belarus.

On Court 1, five-time champion Venus Williams was matched against 20-year-old Agnieska Radwanska of Poland, with No. 4 Elena Dementieva against Francesca Schiavone.

The men's quarterfinals are set for Wednesday. The other matchups are five-champion Roger Federer against Croat Ivo Karlovic; 2002 champion Lleyton Hewitt vs. two-time finalist Andy Roddick; and No. 3 Novak Djokovic vs. Tommy Haas.