by Evening Chronicle

And not since Fred Perry two years earlier has a Briton won the men's title.

Murray again has been given the late slot favoured by television on Centre Court when he will hope to ride a fevered wave of support as he attempts to go one step further than Tim Henman achieved in four losing semi-finals.

Roddick, the top American who is seeded sixth, is under no illusions of what he faces.

"We might be able to count the people for me on this hand," he said, holding up his right hand.

"But it will be something to remember. The crowd's going to be electric. It's going to be a great atmosphere and one I can certainly appreciate, even if it's not for me."

If Murray is to build on his impressive run so far he must tame the fastest serve in Tennis. Roddick has served 139 aces this tournament, with his biggest serve to date clocking in at 141mph, albeit 14mph slower than his world record.

It is unlikely to be a match of extended rallies, although Roddick realises that he must be on top of all aspects of his game if he is to live with the shot-making of the British number one, and he is ready to grind out patient rallies.

"You're going to have to do some of it," admitted Roddick. "I'm not going to get into a match where we are both trying to poke the ball around on the court. That probably wouldn't work. But you're going to have to do it at certain times."

The pair clearly respect each other and Murray was concentrating on his returns in particular in practice to try to combat Roddick's most lethal weapon.

"Roddick's one of the best servers in the game," said Murray. "So I'll obviously have to return very well.

"He's made two finals, been number one in the world and is a grand slam champion so it's going to be tough."

JAMIE MURRAY and Liezel Huber of the US will meet ninth seeds Mark Knowles and Anna-Lena Groenefeld in the mixed doubles semi-finals tomorrow.

Murray and Huber were given a walkover when their opponents Lukas Dlouhy and Iveta Benesova pulled out, while Knowles and Groenefeld beat defending champions Bob Bryan and Samantha Stosur 0-6 7-5 6-3.

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