Can Andy Murray deliver on the biggest of stages?

Andy Murray is only 25. If healthy, the Brit will likely play in dozens of more majors — well after the great Roger Federer has laced up his shoes for a final time. 

But 25 in tennis isn't 25 in baseball; Rafael Nadal, 26, and Novak Djokovic, 25, aren't going anywhere; and from somewhere, you have to figure, new young hotshots are close to bursting through on the tour to, at the very least, win a few big matches and put a scare into the big boys.

Which is why, this Wimbledon is Murray's LeBron James moment. 

(I promise: This won't be a post full of Murray-LeBron comparisons, because that would be nonsensical; a basketball and tennis player only have so much in common.)

With each major that Murray fails to win, the pressure only grows. By now, any tennis fan knows what's at stake — despite being the birthplace of tennis, Great Britain hasn't produced a Grand Slam winner since the great Fred Perry (eight titles) won at the All England Club in 1936. 

That's 76 years and counting.

Murray, at the moment, is the country's greatest — and lone — hope. Like LeBron (oops, rule broken), he's shouldered incredible pressure since emerging on tour about five years ago. Unlike LeBron, he can't take his talents to South Beach.

Rather, Murray is faced with the challenge of believing in himself against the world's best; of pushing himself to a place he's never been. The physical tools are there — the powerful serve, the consistent ground strokes, the ability to finish points at the net.

But to this point, Murray has wilted on the biggest of stages.

He's played in three Grand Slam finals and failed to win a set, succumbing to Federer twice and Djokovic once. He didn't show much life in any of the three matches. Similarly, he's lost in six major semifinals to the Big Three, and only once — in this year's Aussie Open, when he fell to Djokovic — has he pushed his opponent to the brink.

In Wednesday's quarterfinal victory (6-7, 7-6, 6-4, 7-6) over the "Little Beast" David Ferrer, Murray showed the type of resolve he'll absolutely need for the entirety of a match if he's to break through this weekend and win that elusive Grand Slam over Federer or Djokovic (first, of course, he has to face Jo-Wilfried Tsonga Friday in the semifinals). 

Murray displayed toughness, grit and a bounce-back ability that, to be frank, has usually been the separating factor between the Big Three (32 major titles between them) and him. 

After dropping the first set in a tiebreaker, which had me groaning, "Oh, typical Murray; can't win the big points," the Brit found himself down 5-2 in the second set tiebreaker. He stood two points from being down two sets against a player in Ferrer whose motor never slows down. 

Instead, Murray responded with aggressive shot-making to take the tiebreaker 8-6. Match on.

The third set appeared headed for yet another tiebreaker, but with Ferrer serving at 4-4, Murray unleashed a pair of killer groundstrokes to break the Spaniard then served out the set at love. 

Killer instinct.

Against an opponent like Ferrer, Murray knew there would be no easy final set, and the players battled back and forth until the usual London rain delay halted play at 4-4. Leading up to the stoppage, Murray showed the let's-get-this-done attitude that he's carried all tournament, not wasting a second between points and throwing 130-mph serves to the inside and wide of Ferrer.

He wasn't in the mood for messing around, even up a set. A couple rounds earlier, Murray had done the same thing to finish off Marcos Baghdatis just a couple minutes after an 11p.m. "curfew" to finish play for the day.

In the final set tiebreak — what else? — Murray used all the strength he had left in his body, firing back-to-back aces up the middle to take a 4-3 lead. Leading 5-4, he then set up match point brilliantly with an array of groundstrokes to Ferrer's baseline before a steaming forehand winner up the line.

A point later, Murray left no doubt with his third ace of the tiebreak. 

After 4 hours on Centre Court, Murray raised his hands in triumph, but only for a fleeting moment. He'll save any big celebrations for Sunday.

Can he do it? That answer is impossible to know.

But with the pressure not going anywhere, Murray, an avid boxing fan, has displayed signs this fortnight of the package of jabs he needs to bring to center stage if he's going to knock out one of the Big Three and be toasted in England for many fortnights to come.