Goran going great guns

Robert Woodward

Goran Ivanisevic became the first player to reach the Wimbledon semifinals as a wildcard on Wednesday as the oldies of men's tennis proved they remain the masters of grasscourt tennis -- and the great entertainers.

In a story to rival that of comeback queen Jennifer Capriati, the 29-year-old Croatian beat fourth seed Marat Safin 7-6, 7-5, 3-6, 7-6 on Centre Court to reach the last four.

"I'm playing the best tennis I've ever played at Wimbledon," the three-times finalist said, revealing he almost quit the game earlier this year because of a shoulder injury.

"Now I'm in the semis which is like a dream. Never been happier in my life."

Ivanisevic will play British sixth seed Tim Henman who held his nerve against Swiss teenager Roger Federer, fourth round conqueror of defending champion Pete Sampras, to win 7-5, 7-6, 2-6, 7-6 and send Centre Court into raptures.

"I was as tight as a drum out there. There is so much pressure and you just have to deal with it," he said.

Henman lost to Sampras in two previous semifinals, and now has his best chance of becoming his country's first Wimbledon men's singles champion since 1936.

"It's nice to know I'm not playing Sampras," he smiled.

SUCCESSIVE SEMIFINAL

Australian Pat Rafter, playing his last Wimbledon because of a persistent shoulder injury, won through to his third successive semifinal against Andre Agassi when he beat Sweden's Thomas Enqvist 6-1, 6-3, 7-6.

Agassi, the 31-year-old second seed, lost the first set - his first of the championships - to France's Nicolas Escude but recovered to win 6-7, 6-3, 6-4, 6-2.

The average age of the semifinalists is over 28, the highest here for 30 years. Agassi - the 1992 champion - is contesting his fifth Wimbledon semifinal, Ivanisevic his sixth, and Rafter and Henman their third.

The semifinals are also a public relations dream - three crowd-pleasers plus the home country's best hope, two of the best exponents of serve-and-volley tennis plus Ivanisevic, this tournament's most potent serve-machine.

Ivanisevic only entered the tournament thanks to organisers who wanted to give the old warhorse one last drink at the Wimbledon trough and presented him with a wildcard.

Now the injury which has seen him plummet down the rankings is a distant memory, the smell of victory is in his nostrils and only Henman stands between Ivanisevic and the final.

As ever Ivanisevic's victory was built on his service - he holds the record for the number of aces in a championships, 206 in 1992.

SWALLOWED PILLS

This time he sent down 30 against the U.S. Open champion and apart from a wobble in the third set, was always on top.

Ivanisevic swallowed pills from the courtside trainer in the second set, but fears he was succumbing to the shoulder injury were quickly dispelled.

He put on a show, at one point flipping a half volley between his legs before slicing a backhand drop shot so viciously it bounced back on itself.

After winning the final point of the match Ivanisevic stripped off his shirt and threw it into the court. He then stood on his chair and flexed his muscles for the crowd.

"This is maybe the last chance for me," said Ivanisevic, the circuit's most infamous racket-breaker in his heyday. "Now I've come so far to stop will be a big disappointment.

"So I don't want to stop. I want to go further."

Safin said he is convinced Ivanisevic could win the title. "He was playing unbelievable, I couldn't do anything special to beat him," the Russian said.

"If he plays like he played today, he will not have any problems. The guy doesn't give you any chances. All the time you're under pressure."

Rafter, last year's losing finalist, had his serve-and-volley game in full swing early on, reeling off the first three games before Enqvist had time to settle.

ROCKY SERVE

Rafter enjoys the distinction of never having lost a quarter-final match at a Grand Slam tournament in seven appearances, and allowed the 10th seed one game before spinning through the next three for the first set.

Rafter broke Enqvist's rocky serve five times in the match, dropping his own only once.

"I felt a little bit stiff in the beginning and it took a while to find my rhythm," Enqvist said, adding a swirling wind had disturbed his serve.

Rafter was more succinct. "Thomas didn't have any rhythm there at all on his serve. I think he struggled with it pretty well the whole match."

Rafter beat Agassi in last year's semifinal but lost to him at the same stage in 1999. He said he was glad to see Ivanisevic back in the spotlight at Wimbledon.

"He's always been good to me even when he was at the top and I was just starting. He treats everyone the same," Rafter said.

Although Agassi raced to a 3-1 lead in the first set after breaking Escude in the opening game with a delicate lob, the 24th seed fought back bravely to level at 3-3.

The set saw another exchange of breaks before Escude, conqueror of Lleyton Hewitt and Sebastien Grosjean, captured it on his sixth set point in the tiebreak 7-3.

Agassi dug deep to get his blistering service returns back on track in the second set.

KEPT COOL

The only former champion left in the draw, Agassi kept his cool and broke Escude's serve four times in the last three sets to seal victory.

Agassi is already looking forward to Friday's rematch with Rafter. "Pat's a great player and a great competitor and I've had some great matches against him," he said.

"Win or lose, you really cherish the opportunity to raise your level of play at the right time."