Agassi, Sampras make last four

WIMBLEDON, JULY 2: Five-time champion and top seed Pete Sampras must thank his stars to be alive in the tournament. Opponent Mark Philipp...

WIMBLEDON, JULY 2: Five-time champion and top seed Pete Sampras must thank his stars to be alive in the tournament. Opponent Mark Philippoussis had won the first set 6-4 and was set to move towards a huge upset, when tragedy struck. In the fourth game of the second set, at deuce, he hit a backhand passing shot down the line and fell rather awkwardly. The ligament behind his left knee snapped. He couldn8217;t move and had to give the match away to Sampras. 8220;No question, he was outplaying me,8221; Sampras said. 8220;I feel pretty fortunate to be alive in the tournament, but it was a strange, strange day today. One minute you are holding on, the next minute he can8217;t go anymore and obviously he was very upset about it.8221;

This is not the end of Sampras8217; troubles anyway. He meets Tim Henman, his semi-final opponent last year, which promises to be a cracker considering that when the number one Brit plays on Centre Court, there are 10,000 more playing for him. Henman beat Cedric Pioline in four sets 6-4, 6-2, 4-6,6-3.Meanwhile, in the women8217;s, Jelena Dokic8217;s fairytale finally ended, beaten by another teenager, Alexandra Stevenson, 3-6, 6-1, 3-6. Stevenson created Wimbledon history, becoming the first qualifier to reach the women8217;s singles semi-finals But there was a lot of cheer for the noisy Australian fans as Patrick Rafter, seeded two, beat back a spirited challenge from American Todd Martin 6-3, 6-7 5, 7-6 5, 7-6 3 to enter the semi-finals for the first time here. After the win, he promptly pulled out of the doubles quarter-finals. He meets French Open champion and fourth seed Andre Agassi a 6-3, 6-3, 6-4 winner over 11th seed Gustavo Kuerten. The last women8217;s semi-final spot was taken by Mirjana Lucic, who beat France8217;s Nathalie Tauziat, the eighth seed, 4-6, 6-4, 7-5.