The eyes of the nation, of a packed centre court were once again fixed on the Wimbledon semi-final yesterday despite the implicit assumption that the last great British hope would crash out at some point.

In a ritual that is repeated every year, the buzz about the 'reaching the final' was inevitably extinguished after four nail-biting sets.

A Wimbledon official said: "If you asked any one of these people before the match whether they might be in denial, they would look blankly at you. But as they stream out of centre court, they mutter - 'I just knew it was too good to be true'.