Hewitt hammers Henman to book final spot

1-L Hewitt (Aus) bt 4-T Henman (GB) 7-5 6-1 7-5

Wimbledon semi-final

Tim Henman's Wimbledon dream was destroyed by a dominant semi-final display by world number one Lleyton Hewitt on Centre Court.

The Australian showed a staggering array of returns and passing shots to power into Sunday's final, beating his opponent in straight sets. It improves Hewitt's record against the British number one to six wins and no losses and left Henman contemplating his fourth semi-final defeat in five years at the All-England Club.

Hewitt's performance was one of his best ever, making just nine unforced errors compared with 31 from Henman and in the final two sets, the Aussie made just three mistakes.

Right from the start, the top seed tore into Henman's serve, silencing the usually-passionate Centre Court crowd with some stunning ground strokes and magnificent harrying. In one early rally, Tim thought he had won the point on three occasions, yet every "winner" was chased down by the Aussie terrier and the Briton eventually put his smash well wide.

Henman: No answer

Hewitt made the breakthough in the eighth game of the match, but lost his concentration when serving for the set and allowed his opponent to break back to love. Henman's parity was shortlived however, as he was broken again in his next service game, losing the set 7-5.

The British star, roared on by a passionate Centre Court crowd, needed to get back into the game quickly, but was broken for the third successive time at the start of the second set and was have been relieved to see the rain bring a halt to the proceedings at 3-0.

Henman saved break points in his first game following the 45-minute break and held his serve, but that proved to be his only game in the second set as Hewitt started to run away with the match.

The domination continued in the third set and Hewitt simply couldn't put a foot wrong. He earned a break point in the third game by reaching a volley that most players would have given up on and wafting a return around the net and onto the baseline.

Henman saved that break point, but was still broken that game, thanks to yet another breath-taking passing shot by the Australian. Hewitt's serve was looking extremely secure, having not given a break point to his opponent in the final two sets, but as in his previous match against Sjeng Schalken, he started showing nerves when the final was in his sights.

Serving to win the match, Hewitt was broken as he made his only unforced error of the set, putting a forhand into the net. However, he broke straight back with a majestic top-spin lob and, this time duly served out to book a spot in his first Wimbledon final, falling to his knees in celebration as he served an ace on his second match point.