ATPWorldTour.com looks ahead to the singles semi-finals at The Championships on Friday. Five-time former champion Roger Federer of Switzerland will meet German No. 24 seed Tommy Haas, while third-seeded Scot Andy Murray challenges sixth seed and two-time runner-up Andy Roddick of the United States. Federer (Roland Garros), Murray (AEGON Championships) and Haas (Gerry Weber Open) have each won a title in their last tournament.

[2] Roger Federer (SUI) vs [24] Tommy Haas (GER) – first match on Centre Court from 1 p.m. local time  

Roger Federer takes a 9-2 lead over Tommy Haas into Friday’s match, when he will attempt to reach his seventh straight Wimbledon final. Federer has won the pair’s past eight meetings since losing to Haas 8-6 in the fifth set in the fourth round of the 2002 Australian Open. Federer has beaten 36 German players in a row, since losing to Nicolas Kiefer in the 2002 Gerry Weber Open semi-finals. Federer is riding a 17-match winning streak, while Haas is 10 matches unbeaten.

The 27-year-old Federer has captured two titles this year at ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Madrid (d. Nadal) and at Roland Garros (d. Soderling), where he became the sixth man in tennis history to complete the career Grand Slam. With a 38-6 record on the season, Federer is attempting to capture his 60th title and 11th trophy on a grass court. The World No. 2 has been broken three times at The Championships, saved 11 of 14 break points and hit 66 aces in five matches. He is just two match wins away from capturing a record 15th Grand Slam championship crown, which would help him to reclaim the No. 1 South African Airways 2009 ATP Ranking.

Haas, like Federer, is appearing at The Championships for the 11th time. He will be appearing in his first Wimbledon semi-final and fourth Grand Slam final overall (1999, 2002, 2007 Australian Open). The 31 year old is just the fourth German male in the Open Era to reach the last four at the All England Club. Last year Rainer Schuettler made a semi-final exit (l. to Nadal) after Boris Becker (1985-86, ’89) and Michael Stich (1991) captured the Wimbledon titles. The last German to reach a Grand Slam championship final was Schuettler at the 2003 Australian Open (l. to Agassi). The World No. 34, who saved two match points against 11th seed Marin Cilic in the third round, has spent 12 hours and 51 minutes on court at The Championships this year. He has hit 49 aces, been broken nine times, held 85 of 94 service games and saved 19 of 28 break points in five matches thus far.

[3] Andy Murray (GBR) vs. [6] Andy Roddick (USA) – second match on Centre Court

Andy Murray takes a 6-2 lead into the semi-finals against Andy Roddick. Murray has won the pair’s past three meetings, including the Qatar ExxonMobil Open final in Doha in the first week of the 2009 ATP World Tour season. Seven of their meetings have come on hard courts and their lone grass-court match was at The Championships in 2006, when Murray prevailed 7-6(4), 6-4, 6-4 in the third round.

The 22-year-old Murray is attempting to become the first British man to advance to The Championships final since Bunny Austin lost to Don Budge during the American’s ‘Grand Slam’ year of 1938. The last British man to capture the title was Fred Perry in 1936. Since Austin reached the 1938 final (l. to Budge), four British players have fallen in the semi-finals – Austin (1938), Mike Sangster (1961), Roger Taylor (1967, 1970, 1973) and Tim Henman (1998-99, 2001-02). If Murray goes on to win the title he will move to a career-high No. 2 in the South African Airways 2009 ATP Rankings, just five points behind Rafael Nadal. Two weeks ago he snapped a 71-year British title-drought at the AEGON Championships, last won by Austin, with victory over James Blake. Murray has a 45-6 record on the season, highlighted by four ATP World Tour titles. At The Championships this year, Murray has held 83 of 89 service games, saved 15 of 21 break points. In 10 grass-court matches this year he has won 25 of 28 sets.

Roddick, 26, is through to the semi-finals for the fourth time in nine appearances at the All England Club. He has fired an average 27.8 aces per match (139 aces overall) in five matches at the grass-court Grand Slam championship. He has held 95 of 103 service games, saved 10 of 18 break points and converted 16 of 54 break point opportunities. The Texas resident finished runner-up to Federer in 2004 and 2005. He is one of three active players (Federer-180 and Lleyton Hewitt-124) to register at least 100 Grand Slam championship match wins (103-32). Roddick, who has a 38-8 record on the season, highlighted by one title at the Regions Morgan Keegan Championships (d. Stepanek), will be attempting to reach his fifth major final (1-3 record).