Tim Henman broke the hearts of British tennis fans on Thursday when he exited Wimbledon in the meekest fashion.

'Henmania' came to the most abrupt of halts as the British number one was defeated 7-6 6-4 6-2 by the 20-year-old brilliance of Croatian Mario Ancic in the most disappointing of quarter-finals.

Henman was simply overpowered in every department of the game, though his inability to switch his tactics from out-and-out serve-and-volley perhaps contributed to his downfall.

It lasted just two hours and 12 minutes and at times the Croatian reduced the Centre Court crowd to silence as his blistering groundstrokes and powerful serve never let Henman into the match.

Defeat inevitably left Henman facing more questions of the nature 'can you ever win Wimbledon?'.

"I've been asking myself that question for 28 years, since I understood what Wimbledon is all about," he said.

"I've got to keep working, got to keep trying to progress. People are entitled to their opinions and my career will be judged on whether I win Wimbledon or not.

"Can I control that? Do I agree with that? No to both questions but that's life. Plenty of things in life aren't fair."

Roger Federer dropped his first set of this year's Wimbledon on Wednesday, but still had too much for former champion Lleyton Hewitt.

Last year's winner won a Centre Court cracker in four sets - 6-1 6-7 6-0 6-4 - to book his place in the semi-finals.

The quality of tennis was superb at times, Federer starting like a train as he swept through the first set 6-1.

But Hewitt is a renowned fighter and he hit back by taking the second on a tie-break.

Federer upped his game to a new level in the third - racing through it 6-0, at which point Hewitt called for the trainer to soothe a thigh injury.

It seemed to do the trick at Hewitt became the first player to break Federer's serve at this year's tournament to lead 4-3 in the fourth.

But he immediately surrendered that advantage and didn't win another game, Federer clinching his place in the last four when Hewitt double faulted.

Sebastien Grosjean set-up a semi-final clash with Federer after cruising past tournament debutant Florian Mayer in their rain-interrupted clash late in the day on court one.

The Frenchman made hard work of it until the third set but he possessed too much class for Mayer who bowed out of the tournament with his pride intact despite a comprehensive 7-5 6-4 6-2 defeat.

Mayer is the first player to reach the Wimbledon quarter-finals on his debut since David Nalbandian in 2002, a fine achievement in what was only his third appearance at a Grand Slam event.

Andy Roddick's booming serve fired him into the semi-finals.

It what was always a tight contest, the US Open champion saw off Sjeng Schalken 7-6 7-6 6-3 to set up a meeting with Tim Henman's conqueror Mario Ancic.

Roddick, who slammed down one serve at 146mph - the fastest ever at the championships - did not drop his awesome service at all in the match. Schalken lost his only once - in that third set.

Roddick edged the first set on a tie-break, taking it 7-4. The second also saw no breaks of serve, and the Dutchman had his chance to the level the match in the breaker.

He held three set points - one on his own serve - but failed to take them and Roddick finally took the tie-break 11-9.

It was a long way back from there for Schalken and Roddick, who has yet to drop a set in the championsips, completed his straight-sets win with that solitary break early in the third set.

"He wasn't giving me anything and I definitely had to work hard out there today.

"Coming out after a rain delay straight into a tie-break in the second set was tough, but I thought I really stepped up my game in that breaker."

In the women's singles, defending champion Serena Williams swept into the semi-finals with a blistering victory over Jennifer Capriati in just 42 minutes on Centre Court.

It was a superb performance from the two-time winner at the All England Club, breaking the number seven seed early in the opening set and never looking back as she raced to a 6-1 6-1 triumph.

Williams is on course to become the first woman to win three consecutive Wimbledon titles since Steffi Graf between 1991 and 1993.

Capriati, twice a Wimbledon semi-finalist and having beaten Williams at the French Open last month, looked out of sorts and failed to find the form which had taken her to the quarter-finals without dropping a set.

Williams will now play Amelie Mauresmo for a place in the final and Capriati declared: "If she plays like that, she has a good chance. If she can play like that every time - that's too good.

"I guess maybe the early break gave her the extra confidence and she got on a roll. I couldn't even get the rallies going.

"Today was probably one of the best she's ever played against me. Beating her the last two times, maybe she had a vendetta.

"I don't think I really had much of a chance to get in the match and play."

Meanwhile, the defending champion revealed she was thrilled to have returned to the form which had won her six Grand Slams.

"It's been a really hard 12 months for me," reflected the number one seed.

"Here at Wimbledon I am feeling really good for the first time since I have been back.

"That's what I am most excited about. I'm bending for balls and I'm not having any pain.

"I'm not even worried about feeling pain. I'm running without having any doubt in my mind, so that's been a big plus for me, not only mentally, but physically as well."

Mauresmo moved into the last four after coming through against ninth seed Paola Suarez.

Mauresmo had a scare before finally progressing in three sets on Court One.

It all looked plain sailing in the first set as Mauresmo raced through it 6-0.

But Suarez battled back really well to take the second set 7-5 and take it into a decider.

Mauresmo regained control though to power through the final set 6-1 and ensure victory in one hour and 42 minutes.

Afterwards Mauresmo was in confident mood, saying: "To me the game on grass is made to go forward, and sometimes to serve and volley.

"I had some trouble a few years ago to really find what my game was on this surface.

"But I'm really enjoying playing here. I'm more relaxed here, so I think that's why I can express myself a bit more more."