A new experience awaits the two men who walk out on to Centre Court for the men's final at Wimbledon next Sunday.

With the shock early exit of champion Lleyton Hewitt and the fourth-round battering of 1992 winner Andre Agassi none of the last eight has ever passed the semi-finals here.

It is the first time since tennis turned professional in 1968 that neither the top nor the second seed has reached the quarter-finals.

The inexperience of the men's quarter-final line-up contrasts sharply with the women where three old hands -- the Williams sisters and Lindsay Davenport -- own four Wimbledon trophies between them and two others have also won other Grand Slams.

After a decade dominated by Pete Sampras, now in semi-retirement, with supporting roles from injured Goran Ivanisevic and departed Richard Krajicek, the prospect of the All England Club recruiting a new member is an exciting one.

The bookmakers' favourite for the accolade remains American whizz-kid Andy Roddick, whose game has matured as his temperament has calmed over the last two years.

The 20-year-old fifth seed meets wily Swede Jonas Bjorkman, veteran of 39 Grand Slam campaigns and 11 years his senior. Bjorkman has made his name as a doubles specialist and possesses a killer volley as well as a keen-eyed return.

OLDER MAN

Their only previous meeting was on grass in Nottingham last year and the older man won.

"He's a good player -- won matches for year and years and years," Roddick said. "You know I lost to him last year on grass. I'm definitely looking to get a win here," said the confident American.

Roger Federer is another man who feels his time has come. The supremely talented Swiss has been accused of failing to show a killer instinct after he made his name beating Pete Sampras two years ago.

But the fourth seed has sailed through the first four rounds, dropping only one set and should have the measure of eighth-seeded Dutchman Sjeng Schalken.

The trainer might be busy, though, as Federer struggled with a back injury in his fourth-round victory over Feliciano Lopez, while Schalken has had a recurrence of a long-term foot injury which could yet force him to forfeit the match.

Two other patched-up players, unseeded after lengthy injuries and illness, will produce the biggest fireworks.

Mark Philippoussis, who slammed down 46 aces in his five-set bombardment of Agassi and the two-metre tall German Alexander Popp are unlikely to be giving much thought to the crafting of their groundstrokes. Both will be be serve and volleying for their lives.

Australian Philippoussis, 26, a former top-10 player, is at his most dangerous on grass and after three knee operations is discovering his best form again just at the right time.

Popp, born four days before his opponent in November 1976 to an English mother and German father, has also missed tennis because of a debilitating illness followed by a wrist injury, but he feels at his most comfortable at Wimbledon, where his big serve can do the most damage.

"He's a dangerous player and has got a great serve and big weapons so I'm going to watch out," Philippoussis said.

Henman's biggest weapon at Wimbledon will be the crowd. Support for the 28-year-old Briton has again reached fever pitch and the noise ringing round Centre Court when he beat last year's finalist David Nalbandian in the fourth round on Monday night was ear-splitting.

Henman, also returning from injury, is seeking to become the first Briton to win the title for 67 years and has come agonisingly close with four semi-final appearances in the last five years here.

Henman's holds a 3-2 record against Sebastien Grosjean, having beaten him at Wimbledon on 1999 but lost to him at Queen's last month.

"I'm very happy to be in the position I'm in now," a pumped up Henman said. "But I know if my level drops I'll be in trouble so I've got to keep doing the right thing."