Andy Murray's dream of reaching the Wimbledon final was crushed by Andy Roddick in a dramatic semi-final.

The British number one went into the match as a hot favourite to beat the sixth seed, who he had defeated in six of their eight previous meetings, but Roddick produced a brilliant performance to triumph 6-4 4-6 7-6 (9/7) 7-6 (7/5).

Murray was punished for being too passive in the opening set and, although he bounced back in the second, Roddick's bullet serving and consistent all-round game earned him a third Wimbledon final appearance against Roger Federer.

Murray said: "You always expect your opponents to play well at this stage of the tournament.

"I had a few chances in the first tie-break and chances early in the third set and I didn't take them.

"I thought I played well. He served really, really well.

"Hitting at that pace at such a high percentage, sometimes there's not a whole lot you can do."

Roddick, 26, said: "I had to play my best tennis to win today. Not many people were giving me much of a chance.

"Throughout my career I've had a lot of shortcomings but trying hard isn't one of them. He had all the pressure on him. It's just a dream."

Meanwhile Federer was all class as he made history by becoming the first man to reach seven consecutive Wimbledon finals.

The five-times champion produced some immaculate tennis against a brave but outclassed Tommy Haas to win 7-6 (7/3) 7-5 6-3 and maintain his 100% record in Wimbledon semi-finals.

It was his ninth successive victory over the veteran German and his 50th win at Wimbledon, one short of drawing level with Bjorn Borg, who watched in awe from the Royal Box as Federer clinically disposed of the 24th seed.

A fifth straight-sets win of this year's Championships was just about his most comfortable as he denied Haas a single break point.

"Tommy has been playing extremely well since Paris and that is why I'm so happy come through," Federer said.

"I knew he was a danger so I'm very happy with my performance. It's unbelievable to be in another final."

Federer is through to a 20th Grand Slam final, overtaking the record of Ivan Lendl, and is unlikely to be overawed as he seeks to break Pete Sampras' all-time record of 14 grand slam titles.

"I've had a lot of pressure over the years, it's just another great opportunity to get into the history books," he said. "Going for something that big is quite extraordinary."