There is magic at Wimbledon. The tournament at SW19 is many a player's favourite Grand Slam and there have been countless titanic battles down the years.
On Thursday Sabine Lisicki and Marion Bartoli booked their spots in the final on Saturday, which means that there will be a new name on the illustrious roll of honour; currently there are eight open-era women's champions.
With the men's semi-finals due to take place on Friday, Sports Mole takes a look back at some of the greatest finals at the All England Club in the open era.
1. Roger Federer 5-7 7-6 7-6 3-6 16-14 Andy Roddick, 2009
Roddick came as close to mastering the art of serving as anyone is likely to during the 2009 championships. Some of the best players in the world, including Andy Murray, had been blown away by the American's power as he moved towards what would surely be his final attempt at an elusive Grand Slam.
That serving game did not show any signs of letting up in the final against Roger Federer, who at the time was level with Pete Sampras's 14-Slam record. Federer broke just once - in the 30th game of an incredible final set to win his 15th title 16-14 in the decider.
2. Venus Williams 4-6 7-6[4] 9-7 Lindsay Davenport, 2005
This battle between two big-serving Americans very much lived up to its billing of being a closely contested affair. Venus, who won the Wimbledon title in 2000 and 2001 battled her way from a set down to fend off two match points in this epic turnaround.
The match became the longest women's tennis final ever and was remarkable mainly for Davenport's tightness when leading to allow Williams back in. Venus made no mistake when given the chance and claimed her third All England Club title after two hours and 45 minutes.
3. Roger Federer 7-6 4-6 7-6 2-6 6-2 Rafael Nadal, 2007
Towards the latter part of last decade Federer's supremacy over the tennis world was being seriously fought by the left-hander from Mallorca, Nadal. The pair have shared some truly epic battles on court but it was in 2007 that Federer was given his biggest scare during his reign over the grass of Wimbledon.
Federer was going for his fifth-straight All England Club title to match the watching Bjorn Borg's record. What unfolded was the Swiss having to play his very best tennis in order to match it; as such a 3hr 45m classic unfolded on Centre Court.
4. Bjorn Borg 1-6 7-5 6-3 [16]6-7 8-6 John McEnroe, 1980
By this point, Swede Borg had been there, done it and seen everything else in tennis. He had won at SW19 for the previous four years, but hot on his heels was feisty American McEnroe, who was the pretender to be world number one. Needless to say, this match will be many people's favourite of all time.
With Borg 2-1 up the pair played out what is still regarded as the best tie-break ever. McEnroe finally won it 18-16 to surely knock the wind out of Borg's sails, but the Swede used every minute of his experience to emerge victorious.
5. Rafael Nadal 6-4 6-4 6-7 [5]6-7 [8]9-7 Roger Federer, 2008
Just a year prior to this match, Federer beat Nadal in a memorable clash on Centre Court, so the spectators could be forgiven if they thought that this one would be less dramatic. Nadal was out for revenge for the heartbreaking defeat in five in 2007.
This time, it was the Spaniard who edged out the Swiss in an even better encounter - widely regarded as the best match of all time. Federer battled back as only he could from two sets down to win two incredible tie-breakers but, with the light rapidly disappearing Nadal struck the final blow at 9.15pm to win his first Wimbledon title.
Matt Domm
