Andymonium ends,again

Murray,bidding to become the first British mens singles champion at Wimbledon for 75 years,had no answer to the Spaniards sustained brilliance,making a string of unforced errors as the match slipped away from him.

Nadal,who will lose his world number one ranking to Djokovic next week,stayed on course for a third Wimbledon title and 11th grand slam crown. The victory continued the remarkable Wimbledon run of the Spaniard,whose last defeat in the tournament came in the 2007 final against Roger Federer. Nadal won it in 2008,missed 2009 through injury but came back to triumph again last year after also beating Murray in the semis. Its a dream to be back in the final, Nadal said in an interview. I feel sad for Andy. I think he deserved to be in the final. I wish him all the best for the rest of the year and the U.S. Open. I played very well to win against Andy. I need to play my best tennis. Hes a great champion. To beat him the only way is to play really great shots. I did that today.

Everyone with an opinion had been telling Murray that he had to be more aggressive and the advice looked to have got through as he came out for his third successive Wimbledon semi-final full of attacking intent. He opened up with a powerful service game,sending down two aces and immediately lifting the decibel count in the packed Centre Court. Nadal was also solid,however,and the first deuce of the match did not arrive until the 11th game on the Murray serve.

Dream final

But on Sunday,Nadal will be up against a player who has beaten him four times this season,even denying him two Masters titles on his favourite clay. Djokovic who beat Tsonga 7-6 6-2 6-7 6-3 improved his record to 47-1 this year and is a two-time Australian Open champion,will replace Nadal as the top-ranked player in the world on Monday,but reaching the final at the All England Club was the relief he was looking for after losing twice at the same stage.

After Tsongas return on match point sailed out,Djokovic dropped to the ground and lay on his back. A few seconds later,he knelt down and kissed the grass. Its hard to express your emotions in a very short time but hopefully some more celebrations are about to come, said Djokovic,who also beat Tsonga in the 2008 Australian Open final.

Ive been working all my life for this, Djokovic said. Ive been dreaming about playing the finals of Wimbledon since I started playing tennis when I was 4. To be able to be there on Sunday will probably be the best feeling.

Tsonga,however,didnt make this one easy. The 12th-seeded Frenchman went to the turf several times to knock balls back over the net,some landing in and some going long. This is the only surface you can really dive,because on the others,if you dive you go directly to the hospital, Tsonga said. So this is good.

Twice in the third set,both players went down on the same point. At 1-1 with Tsonga serving,the Frenchman dived to send the ball back toward Djokovic. The Serb then dived to hit a backhand across the net while Tsonga scrambled to his feet just in time to dive again and push a forehand long.

In the seventh game,Djokovic dived to hit a forehand,but Tsonga did the same,sending a forehand winner back over the net. There were more theatrics in the first set. With Tsonga up a break and serving while leading 3-2,the two players volleyed the ball back and forth until Tsonga dived and hit a winner. But after he lost the match,Tsonga said: I can beat everybody today,but not Djokovic,because he just played unbelievable. He was everywhere. He returns unbelievable all the time on his baseline,so is tough. Thats it.

Sania loses,Bhupathi wins

Fourth seeds Mahesh Bhupathi and Elina Vesnina advanced to the semifinals of the Wimbledon mixed doubles event after registering a straight sets 6-4 6-1 win over Israel8217;s Jonathan Erlich and Shahar Peer. However the pair of Leander Paes and Cara Black were defeated by eighth seeds Daniel Nestor and Yung-Jan Chan of Chinese Taipei 6-3 6-2. Sania Mirza and Rohan Bopanna were also knocked out of the mixed doubles,losing their quarterfinal to Australia8217;s Paul Hanley and Chinese Taipei8217;s Su-Wei Hsieh 6-1 2-6 2-6.

Sania Mirza and Elena Vesnina crashed out of the Wimbledon women8217;s doubles event after going down tamely to Czech Republic8217;s Kveta Peschke and Katarina Srebotnik of Slovenia in straight sets in the semifinals. Second seed Peschke and Srebotnik recorded a comfortable 6-3 6-1 win over the fourth-seed duo in little over an hour. There was no stopping Peschke and Srebotnik,who had 79 per cent of their second serve in place as compared to Sania-Vesnina8217;s 38 per cent.