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A nation`s hope fails to deliver as Grosjean triumphs
London, July 04: Frenchman Sebastien Grosjean shattered Briton Tim Henman`s Wimbledon dream for another year when he completed a 7-6 3-6 6-3 6-4 quarter-final victory on Centre Court.
London, July 04: Frenchman Sebastien Grosjean shattered Briton Tim Henman's Wimbledon dream for another year when he completed a 7-6 3-6 6-3 6-4 quarter-final victory on Centre Court.
Two sets to one up overnight, the 13th seed wrapped up a deserved victory with some scintillating shots to deflate an expectant Centre Court crowd.
Henman, seeded 10, had been hoping to reach his fifth Wimbledon semi-final in six years but the host nation's hopes of a first men's champion since 1936 were left in tatters by some sublime shot-making from Grosjean.
The Frenchman will play his first Wimbledon semi-final against Australian Mark Philippoussis.
Grosjean is only the third player from France to reach the semi-finals of the men's singles at Wimbledon since the game turned professional in 1968.
Andy Roddick made up for a day and a half spent watching a variety of Wimbledon rainfall to storm past Swede Jonas Bjorkman 6-4 6-2 6-4 and book his place in the men's singles semi-final.
Any hope Bjorkman had that Wednesday's downpours and Thursday's drizzle would have dampened fifth-seed Roddick's gunpowder were removed as the 20-year-old American blasted down serves of 128, 133, 132 and 125 miles per hour in his first service game.
That set the tone of a match between the youngest and oldest men left in the draw as Bjorkman found the pace too hot.
The 31-year-old did manage to break once in the first set but there was an air of inevitability as Roddick powered through the opener in 32 minutes.
Roddick, who had lost his only previous meeting with Bjorkman, dominated completely in the second set with booming serves and fizzing returns to leave the Swede dispirited.
There was no way back for Bjorkman as Roddick broke in the seventh game of the third set before clinching a 10th consecutive win in one hour and 32 minutes.
Mark Philippoussis came from two sets down to rip German Alexander Popp's Wimbledon dreams to shreds with a 4-6 4-6 6-3 6-3 8-6 victory in their rain-disrupted quarter-final.
With the match left evenly poised at 2-2 in the fifth set when rain halted play on Wednesday, the Australian won the final set shootout to tame Popp and reach his first semi-final at the All England Club. He will play Frenchman Sebastien Grosjean.
Philippoussis, nicknamed "Scud" because of his strong serve, had never lost a contest in which he hit more than 30 aces and his tally of 34 was enough to outgun Popp.
The 26-year-old had equalled Goran Ivanisevic's 1997 record of 46 aces in a single match at Wimbledon during his mauling of Andre Agassi in the previous round, and Popp also had to withstand a barrage of fierce missiles.
The statistics told its own tale for Philippoussis, the only former grand slam runner-up to feature in the quarter-finals.
Ninety unreturnable serves along with the aces ensured that an Australian man would feature in the Wimbledon semi-finals for the fifth year running.
The 2.01 metre tall Popp, who had also reached the last eight on his only other appearance at Wimbledon in 2000, struggled to find his service rhythm as Philippoussis kept at him to get the decisive break.
Having squandered nine break points in Popp's first two service games, Philippousis showed off his athletic skills at 5-5 as he hit diving volley winner to stave off a break point against him.
Drawing strength from the cries of "Come on Scud", an animated Philippoussis pounded away from the baseline and less than an hour after stepping on court, he finally reached match point on his opponent's serve.
Popp surrendered his Wimbledon bid by netting a dipping service return, leaving Philippoussis to lift his arms in delight and acknowledge the noisy Australian contingent on court one.
Roger Federer became the first Swiss man in the Open era to reach the semi-finals of Wimbledon when he beat eighth-seeded Dutchman Sjeng Schalken 6-3 6-4 6-4 in their rain-delayed quarter-final.
Federer, seeded four, trailed 0-3 and then 1-4 in the final set before winning five successive games to reach the last four, where he will play the fifth seed Andy Roddick for a place in the final.
Bureau Report
Andy Roddick made up for a day and a half spent watching a variety of Wimbledon rainfall to storm past Swede Jonas Bjorkman 6-4 6-2 6-4 and book his place in the men's singles semi-final.
Any hope Bjorkman had that Wednesday's downpours and Thursday's drizzle would have dampened fifth-seed Roddick's gunpowder were removed as the 20-year-old American blasted down serves of 128, 133, 132 and 125 miles per hour in his first service game.
That set the tone of a match between the youngest and oldest men left in the draw as Bjorkman found the pace too hot.
The 31-year-old did manage to break once in the first set but there was an air of inevitability as Roddick powered through the opener in 32 minutes.
Roddick, who had lost his only previous meeting with Bjorkman, dominated completely in the second set with booming serves and fizzing returns to leave the Swede dispirited.
There was no way back for Bjorkman as Roddick broke in the seventh game of the third set before clinching a 10th consecutive win in one hour and 32 minutes.
Mark Philippoussis came from two sets down to rip German Alexander Popp's Wimbledon dreams to shreds with a 4-6 4-6 6-3 6-3 8-6 victory in their rain-disrupted quarter-final.
With the match left evenly poised at 2-2 in the fifth set when rain halted play on Wednesday, the Australian won the final set shootout to tame Popp and reach his first semi-final at the All England Club. He will play Frenchman Sebastien Grosjean.
Philippoussis, nicknamed "Scud" because of his strong serve, had never lost a contest in which he hit more than 30 aces and his tally of 34 was enough to outgun Popp.
The 26-year-old had equalled Goran Ivanisevic's 1997 record of 46 aces in a single match at Wimbledon during his mauling of Andre Agassi in the previous round, and Popp also had to withstand a barrage of fierce missiles.
The statistics told its own tale for Philippoussis, the only former grand slam runner-up to feature in the quarter-finals.
Ninety unreturnable serves along with the aces ensured that an Australian man would feature in the Wimbledon semi-finals for the fifth year running.
The 2.01 metre tall Popp, who had also reached the last eight on his only other appearance at Wimbledon in 2000, struggled to find his service rhythm as Philippoussis kept at him to get the decisive break.
Having squandered nine break points in Popp's first two service games, Philippousis showed off his athletic skills at 5-5 as he hit diving volley winner to stave off a break point against him.
Drawing strength from the cries of "Come on Scud", an animated Philippoussis pounded away from the baseline and less than an hour after stepping on court, he finally reached match point on his opponent's serve.
Popp surrendered his Wimbledon bid by netting a dipping service return, leaving Philippoussis to lift his arms in delight and acknowledge the noisy Australian contingent on court one.
Roger Federer became the first Swiss man in the Open era to reach the semi-finals of Wimbledon when he beat eighth-seeded Dutchman Sjeng Schalken 6-3 6-4 6-4 in their rain-delayed quarter-final.
Federer, seeded four, trailed 0-3 and then 1-4 in the final set before winning five successive games to reach the last four, where he will play the fifth seed Andy Roddick for a place in the final.
Bureau Report