They call it the “business end” of a Grand Slam for a reason. From the quarter-finals, there’s a new and heightened tension in the air. All the singles matches are on either Centre Court or No. 1 Court, and all the players know that a Grand Slam title is within reach.

Serena Williams vs. Elena Dementieva

Williams and Dementieva ran each other across Centre Court for two hours and 49 minutes, a record for a Wimbledon women’s semi-final. But there was little to separate them.

Coming into the match, neither had dropped a set in her first five matches, and while Serena was the favourite, Dementieva had won three of their four previous meetings. When she broke Serena in the opening game, and then held her sometimes shaky nerve through the first set tie-break, another win for the Russian looked like a real possibility.

It continued to appear that way in the second and third sets, but, whether it was her serve, Hawk-Eye, or the net itself, it seemed that Serena always held the trump card.

When Dementieva reached break point at 4-3 in the second set, Serena lasered a forehand that appeared to be wide to many, but which Hawk-Eye revealed to have caught a millimetre – or even less – of the sideline. When Dementieva reached break point at 5-5 in the same set, she hit a passing shot that many believed had clipped the line. According to Hawk-Eye, though, it was a few millimetres wide.

Finally, and most crushingly, was the way Dementieva had her one match point wiped away in the third set. Serving at 4-5, 30-40, Serena approached the net, a place where she had had little success that day. Dementieva had a choice of where to hit a backhand pass; she chose cross court, but so did Serena, who reflexed a backhand volley that clipped the tape and dropped over for a winner.

“Elena played so well,” said Serena, who would go on to beat her sister Venus for the title two days later, “and we gave the crowd a wonderful match.”

Final result: 6-7(4), 7-5, 8-6 (2009)

Serena Williams vs. Amelie Mauresmo

“How many Grand Slam titles would [insert top player name here] have won if she hadn’t played in the same era as Serena Williams?”

It’s a question we can ask of any number of WTA stars of the 21st century, but Amelie Mauresmo’s name is among the most intriguing. The Frenchwoman won two Grand Slams and reached world No.1, but she had a 2-10 record against Williams, and 1-5 at the Grand Slams.

This 2004 semi-final was the best of those six matches, and the Centre Court grass was the best showcase for their contrasting games. Mauresmo, using her long reach and smooth one-hander to push her way forward and keep Williams off balance, won the first set, and took a 3-1 lead in the second. But as fate always seemed to have it for the Frenchwoman, she felt a twinge in her back, and after losing three straight games to go down 3-4, she called for a trainer.

By then it looked like it might be too late – Serena had a foot in the door, and she wouldn’t stop until she had barged through it. Mauresmo double faulted to lose the second set, and Williams, whether it was with an unreturnable serve or a rocketed passing shot, always found another gear in the third. Serving for the win, Serena pulled out the final dagger: a backhand winner that took her to match point, and left Mauresmo with no answers.

“This is definitely the most special moment right now of my career,” said Williams, who would lose the final to Maria Sharapova two days later. “It’s tough, but it was a great match,” Mauresmo said. “The only bad thing is I lost it.”

Two years later, Mauresmo would see her golden opportunity – a Serena-less Wimbledon – and take it, by winning her only title there.

Final result: 6-7(4), 7-5, 6-4 (2004)

Sabine Lisicki vs. Agnieszka Radwanska

When Agnieszka Radwanska and Sabine Lisicki began their match, they knew the opponent waiting for them in the final wouldn’t be Serena Williams or Maria Sharapova: it would be Marion Bartoli. In other words, this was a golden opportunity especially for Radwanska – who had beaten Bartoli seven times – to win her first Grand Slam. That knowledge produced tennis of the utmost urgency.

By the third set, urgency had turned to emergency. As Lisicki and Radwanska chased each other to 5-5, 6-6, 7-7, everything about the match – its quality and volatility – escalated. Between them, the two women came to the net 75 times. Lisicki belted 60 winners, while Radwanska invented new ways to finesse the ball.

When she held for 6-5 with a fake drop shot, and then reached deuce in the next game, it looked like she might triumph. But Radwanska could only watch in frustration as Lisicki uncorked a 100mph second serve to win the next point. A few minutes later, she unleashed her final forehand winner for the win, and dropped face down on to the grass.

“I had a lot of chances,” Radwanska said, softly. “[I was] just two points from the match.”

You can understand why this match might be remembered more for its handshake. After the final point, Radwanska snubbed Lisicki with the most famous drive-by in tennis history. All the German saw was Aga’s ponytail, and her outstretched arm pulling away fast. “Should I just be there and dance?” Radwanska asked. “What could I do?… I definitely am disappointed.”

Lisicki’s joyous collapse. Radwanska’s brusque departure. With an improbable dream so close to coming true, there was no way for either woman to hide what the moment meant to them.
Final result: 6-4, 2-6, 9-7 (2013)

Virginia Wade vs. Chris Evert

Every so often, you can toss the numbers aside.

They certainly didn’t look good for Wade as this match began. Evert was the defending champion and world No.1 and she had a 23-5 record against her British opponent. As for Wade, she had played her home Grand Slam 15 times and had never made the final.

But this was the summer of 1977, the centenary edition of Wimbledon, and the Jubilee celebration of Queen Elizabeth II, who would be attending the ladies’ final for the first time since 1962.

The fans on Centre Court were desperate to see at least one of their own join her, and they had just watched their 21-year-old hope, Sue Barker, lose a close semi-final to Betty Stove. Now it was up to their 31-year-old hope, Wade, to do what she had never done before.

When Wade saved six break points in the third game and held after nine deuces, her resolve was apparent. From there, she played with a mix of patience and aggression, slicing her one-handed backhand low to Evert’s two-hander, and pressuring the American at every opportunity. Uncharacteristically, Evert double faulted six times, and the expected comeback from this normally steely competitor never materialised.

“I think Virginia wanted it more than I did; I didn’t feel as eager as I usually do,” said Evert, who would have her revenge against Wade in the same round a year later. “I guess I peaked too soon.”

Whatever Evert was feeling, the day belonged to Wade.

“I really didn’t feel nervous for a point, I was so determined,” she said.

The fans stood and roared their approval as Wade moved on to play for the Queen, and the title. Two days later, they roared even louder when she won.

Final result: 6-2, 4-6, 6-1 (1977)

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