We look back at some of the highlights from an epic men's semi-final day at the All England Club.
We look back at some of the highlights from an epic men's semi-final day at the All England Club
Brit Watch
Andy Murray ended Britain's 74-year wait for a male Wimbledon finalist as the world number four clinched a 6-3, 6-4, 3-6, 7-5 semi-final victory over French fifth seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. Murray's triumph consigned a miserable run of 11 semi-final failures by British men to the history books and emulated the achievement of Bunny Austin, the last home challenger to reach the Wimbledon men's final back in 1938. The 25-year-old had lost at the semi-final stage for the last three years, joining Tim Henman, Roger Taylor and Mike Sangster on the list of British near-misses at the All England Club. But decades of anguish faded from view in front of a jubiliant Centre Court crowd as Murray booked a showdown with six-time champion Roger Federer in Sunday's final.
Jonathan Marray also made history in the doubles. He became the first Briton to reach the men's doubles final at Wimbledon in 52 years after he and Danish partner Frederik Nielsen beat defending champions Mike and Bob Bryan 6-4, 7-6 (11-9), 6-7 (4), 7-6 (5). Bobby Wilson and Mike Davies were Britain's last men's doubles finalists in 1960. Marray and Nielsen will face Robert Lindstedt and Horia Tecau or Jurgen Melzer and Philipp Petzschner in the final. Nielsen's grandfather Kurt was twice a runner-up in the men's singles at Wimbledon in 1953 and 1955.
Other results involving British players today:
Boys Doubles Quarter-final
Evan Hoyt & Wayne Montgomery (Rsa) bt Filip Bergevi (Swe) & Mikael Torpegaard (Den) 4-6 6-4 10-7
(4) Andrew Harris (Aus) & Nick Kyrgios (Aus) bt Luke Bambridge & Kaichi Uchida (Jpn) 7-6 (9-7) 7-5
Mens Over 45 Doubles Group B
Jeremy Bates & Anders Jarryd (Swe) bt Kevin Curren (USA) & Johan Kriek (USA) 6-3 6-4
Match of the day
Six-time champion Roger Federer reached a record eighth Wimbledon final when he defeated world number one and defending champion Novak Djokovic 6-3, 3-6, 6-4, 6-3. In the pair's 27th meeting but first on grass, Federer booked his place in his 24th Grand Slam final. Victory on Sunday will take the 30-year-old level with Pete Sampras's record of seven Wimbledon wins, allow him to reclaim the world number one ranking and clinch a 17th career Grand Slam crown. Djokovic, who was bidding to reach a fifth successive Grand Slam final, had defeated Federer six times in their last seven meetings. But Federer, playing in a record 23rd successive major semi-final, was not to be denied as he buried the heartache of having been knocked out in the quarter-finals in the last two years. He also took his record of semi-final victories to eight out of eight at the All England Club.
Stat of the day
Online ticket market place Viagogo said that semi-final tickets were changing hands for an average of £3,500 ($5,438), with the highest sold for £4,500 ($6,992). The standard price for a Centre Court ticket is £105 ($163). Edward Parkinson, director of Viagogo UK, said: "If Murray gets through to the final it will be history in the making and we could see tickets being offered for up to £45,000 ($69,958) for a pair."
Quotes of the day
"It's tough to explain (how it feels). It's a bit of relief and excitement," said Murray after his win against Tsonga. "It was an emotional end to the match. I've just got to keep it together for the final. It will be one of the biggest matches of my life."
Meanwhile, Federer said after his win: "I'm ecstatic. I played a great match today. Novak played great in the first two sets too, but the third set was key. I stepped it up then. He had a break points in the ninth game of the third set. It was a tough match."
Shots of the day
There were a couple in the Federer-Djokovic game which were simply awe-inspiring. A Djokovic double fault gave Federer break point in the sixth game of the third set which the Serb saved after a brutal, 23-shot rally which has both players stretching every sinew of their bodies. And another fierce exchange, this time 26 shots, gave Federer a second break point and even had his father applauding, but Djokovic's iron defence kept him level at 3-3.
Celebrity watch
Centre Court was treated to music royalty, with Kylie Minogue watch the semi-finals from the Royal Box. The star was joined by other big names including Sir David Frost, the Duke of York, Vogue editor Anna Wintour, and former Wimbledon champion Goran Ivanisevic. Former Rugby Union star Jason Robinson, golfer Luke Donald and Indian cricket superstar Sachin Tendulkar.
On this day
2002
David Nalbandian became the first player in the Open era to reach the Wimbledon men's final on his tournament debut.
2008
Rafael Nadal won the Wimbledon singles title for the first time in his career, beating Roger Federer 6-4 6-4 6-7 (5) 6-7 (8-10) 9-7 in a classic match on Centre Court.
