Wimbledon 2012: Andy Murray and Roger Federer in Men's Semi Final Action on Day Eleven, Preview and Where to Watch Live

Sixth seeded Serena Williams is only one match away from a 14th Grand Slam title and if her semi final win over second seed Victoria Azarenka is any indication, the younger of the two Williams sisters is a woman on a mission... and she will not be denied! The former world number one and four time SW19 champion was ruthless and devilish in her 6-3, 7-6(6) defeat of Azarenka, in the first of the women's singles semi finals on Day Ten. Williams will square off against third seed Agnieszka Radwanska in Saturday's final. The Polish player was in equally brutal form in her semi final, beating eighth seed Angelique Kerber of Germany 6-3, 6-4.

Day Ten

Serena Williams' demolition job on Azarenka (she hit 45 winners to the Belarusian's 14), who herself was in fine form coming into the game, should warn Radwanska to expect the very best that the superbly fit and strong American can throw at her in the final. Indeed, such has been Williams' dominant performances at Wimbledon this season that apart from hiccups against 25th seed Jie Zheng (6(6)-7, 6-2, 9-7) in the third round and wildcard Yaroslava Shvedova (6-1, 2-6, 7-5) in the fourth round, she has been clinical, winning each game by simply overpowering her opponent. The fact she dropped a set in each of the two aforementioned games aside, Williams has demonstrated an ability to take her game to a whole new level when pushed and her straight sets win over defending champion and fourth seed Petra Kvitova and now Azarenka suggests she has yet more performance in the tank.

The match against Azarenka was notable for another reason - although yet again indicative of Williams' determination to capture her fifth Wimbledon crown - the sixth seed sent down a record (for women's tennis) 24 aces in the 96 minutes of Centre Court action. Incidentally, the record she broke was her own... and that was set only a couple of rounds earlier, when she served 23 against Zheng. What could be worse news for Radwanksa is that the American confessed to not being fully confident on her serve.

"I had absolutely no idea," Williams said, when informed of the record, "It really didn't feel like I hit 24 aces at all. I honestly felt like I hit maybe 10. Like I wasn't going for that much. I was just going to play well, to serve well, to do the best I could. I honestly didn't feel great on my serve today. I really didn't. I think yesterday I felt pretty good. I don't know. I thought my serve was off, and apparently, clearly, it wasn't, so maybe I should be off a little more."

Meanwhile, in the second game of the day, an equally inspired third seed crafted her way past Kerber in 70 minutes. The second semi final featured less emphasis on aces and winners (Radwanska had three and 20, respectively, to Kerber's two and 26) and more on consistency of serve and groundstrokes. Radwanska had 78 percent of her first serves in (winning 72 percent of the points) compared to Kerber's 56 percent and 79 percent. The German's second serve didn't fare much better either - she only won 41 percent of those points compared to Radwanska's 62 percent. The Polish woman was simply much better at everything she did - she won more points at the net, more points of her opponent's serve and, crucially committed fewer unforced errors (six to Kerber's 14).

The women's singles final should be an absorbing affair; pitting the power of Williams against the consistency of play the Polish professional has displayed all through the tournament. In fact, the latter dropped zero sets and only 16 games through her first four matches, compared to Williams' 39.

In other results on the day, the third round mixed doubles encounter between Colin Fleming (GBR) and Su-Wei Hsieh (TPE) and the fully local pair of Dominic Inglot (GBR) and Laura Robinson (GBR) ended badly for the latter pair, with a 6(3)-7, 6(3)-7 defeat. The final match of the day on Centre Court was another display of Serena Williams' stamina; she came out to partner sister Venus Williams in a ladies' doubles quarter final match, beating the tenth seeded pair of Raquel Kops-Jones and Abigail Spears of the USA, 6-1, 6-1. The other quarter final saw the Italian pair of Flavia Pennetta and Francesca Schiavone beat ninth seeded Spaniards Nuria Llagostera Vives and Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez, 6-2, 6(0)-7, 6-4. Also in action, among other doubles and mixed doubles matches, were second seeded men's doubles pair of Bob and Mike Bryan, who were stretched to five sets by compatriots Scott Lipsky and Rajeev Ram in their quarter final; the Bryans eventually won 5-7, 6-3, 5-7, 6-4, 6-4.

Day Eleven

The headline matches for the day are obviously the men's singles semi finals and the line-up is mouthwatering! Top seed and defending champion Novak Djokovic will defend his crown from arguably one of the greatest Wimbledon champions of all time - third seed Roger Federer. In the other match, the United Kingdom's biggest hope for a hometown champion since Tim Henman's run of four semi finals in five years (between 1998 and 2002), the Scot Andy Murray, will take on Frenchman and fifth seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.

Much as Serena Williams in the women's half of the draw, Djokovic has been like a man on a mission. He has been supremely untroubled in his run to the semi final, unlike Federer, who has had to battle his way past Julien Benneteau of France and Xavier Malisse of Belgium in the third and fourth rounds after being stretched to five and four sets respectively. The Serbian top seed, Djokovic, has really only been troubled once so far this Wimbledon and that was in the third round against the Czech Republic's Radek Stepanek... even then, he dropped the first set 4-6 but came back to sweep the next three by the score of 6-2. Indeed, he has yet to even be taken to a tie-break so far or even be stretched beyond 6-4 in a single set.

Federer, meanwhile, has had a marginally more difficult time of things although he was equally imperious in his quarter final against Russia's Mikhail Youzhny, beating the 26th seed 6-1, 6-2, 6-2 (Djokovic beat 31st seed Florian Mayer of Germany 6-4, 6-1, 6-4). The Swiss master was breathtakingly unstoppable in the first and second round, scything his way past Albert Ramos of Spain and Fabio Fogrini of Italy in straight sets before Benneteau and Malisse bothered him a little. His handling of Youzhny suggests he is back to his best and a clash between the two finest players in the modern game should be cracking one... the only pity is this is not actually the final. Still, whosoever is victorious on Centre Court on Friday should feel the tournament is his to lose.

The second semi final will be, if it is not unfair on either Federer or Djokovic, more keenly followed than their match. Andy Murray has not been as clinical as either of the above two but he has faced sterner opposition than most would like. His opponents have included Cyprus' marathon man Marcos Baghdatis, the big-serving Ivo Karlovic, 16th seed Marin Cilic and seventh seed David Ferrer, all of whom have been dispatched with a tenacity and doggedness that should stand him in good stead for the game against Tsonga. Murray has been stretched on three occasions so far, being forced to four sets against Karlovic (7-5, 6(5)-7, 6-2, 7-6(4)), Baghdatis (7-5, 3-6, 7-5, 6-1) and Ferrer (6(5)-7. 7-6(6), 6-4, 7-6(4)).

Fortunately for him, Tsonga has not had it particularly easy either. The fifth seed was also taken to four in his quarter final against Germany's Philipp Kohlschreiber, winning 7-6(5), 4-6, 7-6(3), 6-2. Earlier, Tsonga took out 2002 champion Lleyton Hewitt in straight sets in the first round before dropping a set to Spain's Guillermo Garcia-Lopez in the second round and then another to tenth seeded American Mardy Fish in the fourth. Incidentally, this is Tsonga's second consecutive semi final appearance and remains his best performance at Wimbledon to date.

Other Games

Also in action on the eleventh day will be women's doubles top seed Huber and Raymond, who will play their semi final on the No 1 Court against the Williams sisters. There is also men's doubles semi final action, with fifth seeds Robert Lindstedt (SWE) and Horia Tecau (ROU) facing tenth seeds Jurgen Melzer (AUT) and Philipp Petzschner (GER). That will be followed by Fleming and Hsieh resuming their mixed doubles campaign with a quarter final against third seeds Nenad Zimonjic (SRB) and Katarina Srebotnik (SLO). The Bryan brothers will play their men's doubles semi final on No 3 Court against Jonathan Murray (GBR) and Frederik Nielsen (DEN), while Italians Pennetta and Schiavone will battle sixth seed Andrea Hlavackova and Lucie Hradecka of the Czech Republic for a place in the women's doubles final. Finally, Bob Bryan will return to the court to partner compatriot Huber, as the top seeds for the mixed double's face off against eight seeds Daniel Nestor (CAN) and Julia Goerges (GER) for a semi final berth.

Schedule

• Novak Djokovic (SRB)[1] vs Roger Federer (SUI)[3] on Centre Court at 1 pm BST
• Andy Murray {GBR)[4] vs Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (FRA)[5] is the second match of the day on Centre Court
• Liezel Huber (USA)[1] / Lisa Raymond (USA)[1] vs Serena Williams (USA) / Venus Williams (USA) on No 1 Court at 1 pm BST

Where to Watch Live

You can follow all the action live, from 12.30 pm to 3.25 pm BST and from 5.50 pm to 8 pm BST, on BBC Two. Live action will also be available from 1.45 pm to 6 pm BST on BBC 1. For country specific and broadcasting details and times, check out the BBC television programming Web site. You can also follow the matches live on Wimbledon's official Web site. Catch the highlights of Day Eleven from 8 pm to 9 pm BST on BBC 2.