Players who fell short of Wimbledon glory

Tim Henman (1998, 1999, 2001, 2002) . Henman found several ways of coming second best in a semi-final during his nearly-man years. Most memorable of all was the 2001 loss to Goran Ivanisevic. Henman had already beaten Federer in the previous round, and Federer had beaten Sampras, so the competition was wide open. The Briton was playing superbly and after ripping through the third set, he led by a break at 2-1 in the fourth set when the rains came. The weather had come to Henman's rescue earlier in the tournament, but this time it hurt him. Ivanisevic won the fourth set and was 3-2 up on serve when showers returned. A day later, he won three of the four games to reach the final, where he went on to beat Pat Rafter in an all-time classic to win the title.

Roger Taylor (1967, 1970, 1973). Taylor had already endured two semi-final defeats in 1967 and 1970, the latter to a 35-year-old Ken Rosewall. In 1973 he had already beaten a teenage Bjorn Borg in a marathon quarter-final and was expected to beat Jan Kodes. It was the year for the underdogs as 13 of the world's top 16 players boycotted the championships because of a labour dispute, and Taylor would never have a better chance to win Wimbledon. A five-set tussle ensued, but the Czech player wore him down and came through in a tense final set.

Mike Sangster (1961). The first British man since Henry "Bunny" Austin in 1938 to reach the semi-finals at Wimbledon but, in front of a nation desperate for success, he was beaten by Robert McKinley. Had Sangster defeated the American, however, he would have had to face the mighty Rod Laver, who waltzed his way to the first of his four Wimbledon titles, losing just eight games in the final.

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