Summary Novak Djokovic will face Andy Murray in the Wimbledon final on Sunday.
LONDON (Agencies) - Andy Murray will take on Novak Djokovic in a bid to become the first Brit to win Wimbledon since 1936.
Murray beat 24th-seeded Jerzy Janowicz of Poland 6-7 (2), 6-4, 6-4, 6-3 to make the final for a second consecutive year.
After dropping the first set, Murray trailed 4-1 in the third against the big-serving Janowicz before taking five games in a row.
When the third set ended, after 8:30 pm, Murray complained about the decision to shut the retractable roof because of approaching darkness.
Action resumed after a half-hour delay, and Murray quickly broke for a 2-1 lead in the fourth.
A year ago, Murray was the runner-up to Roger Federer.
The second-seeded Murray faces world No. 1 Djokovic in Sunday s final.
Djokovic slugged out 4 hours, 43 minutes of withering, backbreaking tennis to take a 7-5, 4-6, 7-6 (2), 6-7 (8), 6-3 victory over Juan Martin del Potro to move one victory away from his seventh major title.
"One of the best matches I ve been a part of," Djokovic said. "One of the most exciting definitely. It was so close. You couldn t separate us. Exciting."
It was the longest semifinal in Wimbledon history and was only five minutes short of the 2008 five-set final between Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal that s also considered one of the greatest matches ever played on Centre Court.
That one began late nearly 6:15 p.m., after Djokovic and del Potro spent the entire afternoon exchanging huge groundstrokes, long rallies and even a few laughs during their marathon match, which covered five sets, 55 games, two tiebreakers and 368 points. "I think this match is going to be memory for a few years," del Potro said. "We play for four hours and a half on a very high level. We didn t make too many errors. I don t know if the rest of the players can play like us today."
Del Potro, back in a Grand Slam semifinal for the first time since winning the 2009 US Open, saved two match points in the fourth-set tiebreaker, then won the final four points to take it 8-6.
Shortly after, the match hit the 4-hour mark, guaranteeing it would surpass the 1989 match between Boris Becker and Ivan Lendl a 4:01 affair as the longest semifinal in Wimbledon s long history.
"Such a high level, from the first to the last point," said Djokovic, who finished with 80 winners and 22 aces. "I think I ve never played in Wimbledon against such a player. I m privileged to be the winner of this match."
Del Potro came into the match with a left knee wrapped heavily in athletic tape, a victim of two nasty slips that sent him tumbling earlier in the tournament. The second fall came two days previously, on the fifth point in the quarterfinal win over David Ferrer. Del Potro said the trainer gave him a couple of "magic pills" anti-inflammatories and that kept him going in that match.
On Friday against Djokovic, del Potro showed very few signs of an aftereffect.
Tested throughout the match by a variety of Djokovic drop shots, del Potro got to most. More than once, the Argentine chased the ball from wide of the court on the forehand side to wide of the court on the backhand side. After going wide in the third set to hit one of his 48 winners, del Potro stood on the ledge separating the court from the stands, waiting for a high-5 from one of the fans at courtside.
The fans soaked in the del Potro experience, cheering on the underdog as he pushed the world s best player to the very limit.
"They help me a lot for fight, to keep trying, keep going," del Potro said. "Of course I m sad now, but in a couple of days, I will see how big the match was."
He may also relive some moments he d like to have back. Del Potro had three break points in the third set and couldn t convert any, screaming in frustration when he framed a backhand wide on the third try. Then, trailing 3-2 in the third-set tiebreaker, del Potro failed to put an overhead away and Djokovic slipped and fell on the dirt behind the baseline while throwing up a weak lob. Backpedaling, del Potro couldn t handle the overhead and dropped it in the net.
He lost the rest of the points to fall behind by a set.
A bit later, Del Potro lost his serve to fall behind 4-3 in the fourth set, but broke right back, finishing the game with a big backhand winner, a guttural grunt and a fist pump.
They held serve until the tiebreaker, and when del Potro won that one, he looked like the del Potro of 2009, the man who broke the Federer-Nadal-Djokovic stranglehold on the majors by overcoming a 2-1 deficit against Federer in the 2009 US Open final to win the title.
"I think I m in good form," del Potro said.
Against almost anyone else, his court coverage, his sledgehammer forehand and even his conditioning on a near-windless day, would have placed him in the final.
Against Djokovic, the best counterpuncher and arguably the best conditioned player in the game, it wasn t quite enough.
An example of Djokovic s ability to turn defence into offense came on set point in the third set, when del Potro pounced big-time on Djokovic s serve, pushing it deep to the Serb s backhand side. Djokovic moved over and calmly blocked it back for a down-the-line winner. Del Potro brought the neck of his shirt up to cover his face and headed dejectedly to the sideline.
"You can see I played my best tennis ever on grass court, but was not enough to beat the No. 1 in the world," del Potro said. "I was so close."
