It was a story of guts and gumption at Wimbledon as Jonas Bjorkman defied age and Marcos Baghdatis overcame experience to win their respective quarter-final matches on Wednesday.
Bjorkman won a four-hour, five-set quarter-final marathon against Czech 14th seed Radek Stepanek. The world number 59 was overcome after a stirring 7-6, 4-6, 6-7, 7-6, 6-4 victory on court one against Stepanek.
Swiss defending champion Roger Federer, who beat Mario Ancic 6-4, 6-4, 6-4, faces the unexpected challenge of unseeded 34-year-old Swede Bjorkman in the semi-final.
Baghdatis, the 21-year-old Australian Open runner-up, knocked out Australia's 2002 champion Lleyton Hewitt 6-1, 5-7, 7-6, 6-2.
After days of sweltering sunshine, stormy skies enveloped southwest London, bringing with them rain showers that meant over two hours of play was lost.
As a result the left-handed duel between Finland's Jarkko Nieminen and Spanish second seed Rafael Nadal was postponed until Thursday.
A doubles specialist nowadays, Bjorkman has reached only one Grand Slam singles semi-final before, at the 1997 US Open.
"I'm very emotional. It's a dream come true to play in a semi-final aged 34," said Bjorkman. "I didn't really think I had any semi-finals left in me."
In the other quarter-final Hewitt at times looked like he was playing a better version of himself.
Baghdatis, the 18th seed, has had a miserable time since losing to Federer in the Australian Open final but the impish Paris-based baseliner seems to have rediscovered his joie de vivre on the Wimbledon grass.
He ended Hewitt's nine-match winning streak on grass with a display of lively returning and deft net play, greeting victory with a smile the size of Centre Court.
"I got a bit tight after the first set but I got through it and I'm very happy," said Baghdatis, whose mother sat watching in the stands with her hands over her face in the closing stages.
"It's amazing for me, it's amazing for my parents. Everything has come so fast. I don't think everybody realises that."
PUBLICITY STUNT
Wimbledon officials warned they might be forced to put fencing around Centre Court after the tournament was hit by the second publicity stunt in two days.
In the middle of Federer's quarter-final, two fathers protesting about lack of access to their children leapt on to the court and started an impromptu rally before being hustled off court by security guards and arrested by police.
On Tuesday a male streaker jumped on to the court during Maria Sharapova's match with Elena Dementieva.
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