Radwanska dumps Li Na

Giant-killer Lisicki's run continues; Murray keeps local hopes alive London (AFP): Poland's Agnieszka Radwanska downed China's Li Na on Tuesday to set-up a Wimbledon semifinal against Sabine Lisicki, the slayer of Serena Williams. Fourth-seeded Radwanska, the highest seed left following the exit of defending champion Williams, Victoria Azarenka and Maria Sharapova, beat Li, the sixth seed, 7-6 (7/5), 4-6, 6-2 in a gripping two-hour, 43 minute contest which was completed under the Centre Court roof. Radwanska, the runner-up in 2012, took victory on an eighth match point. The 24-year-old Pole, who had gone into the quarterfinal with a 4-6 losing record against Li, also overcame an injury scare when she needed her right thigh tightly-strapped at the start of the deciding set. Sabine Lisicki lived up to her status as the new Wimbledon favourite with a clinical 6-3, 6-3 demolition of Kaia Kanepi in the quarter-finals on Tuesday. The conquerors of Roger Federer, Rafa Nadal and Maria Sharapova all failed to back up their shock wins but Lisicki followed her stunning victory over defending champion Serena Williams with another impressive display. The smiling German broke Estonian Kanepi's serve in the opening game of the match and produced a barrage of fizzing groundstrokes and subtle drop shots to reach her second Wimbledon semi-final in just 65 minutes. Lisicki made a fast start under grey skies on Court One and she broke the world number 46 in the opening game. Bustling energetically around the court and whipping forehands crosscourt and down the line, Lisicki also tormented the ponderous Kanepi with delicate drop shots which the lanky Estonian struggled to retrieve. Kanepi, who knocked out Briton Laura Robson in the fourth round, took advantage of three Lisicki double faults to break serve for a 2-1 lead in the second set but she looked uncomfortable whenever she was forced to leave the baseline. Lisicki, the 23rd seed, reeled off four games in a row to stand on the brink of the last four and although Kanepi held serve to stop the rot, the German dispatched a high forehand volley on her third match point to seal victory. In the men's category, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray edged closer to an epic Wimbledon final showdown while Poland played Grand Slam gatecrashers by guaranteeing at least a semifinal spot. World No. 1 Djokovic, the 2011 champion, dropped his serve for the first time at this year's tournament before beating Tommy Haas, the 35-year-old German 13th seed, 6-1, 6-4, 7-6 (7/4) in the fourth round. Djokovic will be playing in his 17th successive Grand Slam quarterfinal where he will face Tomas Berdych, the seventh seed and 2010 runner-up, who beat Australia's Bernard Tomic, 7-6 (7/4), 6-7 (5/7), 6-4, 6-4. Djokovic boasts a 13-2 career record over Berdych but lost to him at Wimbledon in 2010. Second seed Murray took another step closer to ending Britain's agonising 77-year wait for a men's champion when he survived a second set wobble to carve out a 6-4, 7-6 (7/5), 6-1 win over Russian 20th seed Mikhail Youzhny. Murray, the runner-up to Roger Federer in 2012, will face Spain's Fernando Verdasco for a place in the semifinals. The Scot has an 8-1 winning record over unseeded Verdasco, a former top-10 player. Murray had to battle back from 2-5 down in the second set to quell the threat posed by Youzhny, who needed treatment on a shoulder injury after one game of the third set. Murray put in an impressive serving performance, firing 15 aces and hitting 45 winners past the experienced Russian. The Scot said he wasn't getting carried away by thenational hysteria as he tries to become Britain's first champion since Fred Perry in 1936. He is wary of becoming another shock Wimbledon victim, like Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal. Verdasco, a former world number nine who now stands at 54 in the world and is playing his 41st successive major, reached his first Wimbledon quarter-final with a 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 win over unseeded Frenchman Kenny De Schepper. Davis Cup teammates Jerzy Janowicz and Lukasz Kubot set-up the first ever all-Polish quarterfinal.