Wimbledon 2011: Novak Djokovic beats Tomic to reach semis

Novak Djokovic brought Bernard Tomic's sensational Wimbledon run to an end with a four-set victory to reach his fifth straight Grand Slam semi-final.

Djokovic made a superb start before Tomic fought back to take the second set and go a break up in the third.

The 18-year-old Australian qualifier overturned a break in the fourth but Djokovic came through 6-2 3-6 6-3 7-5.

Serbia's world number two will play Jo-Wilfried Tsonga for a place in Sunday's final after he upset Roger Federer.

"I'm delighted to be through, it's a great result," Djokovic, 24, told BBC Sport. "In the first set I played well but one bad service game in the second let him in and then he was the better player.

"I had some very difficult service games but I managed to hold on and win the match. He's such an unpredictable player - very young and hitting a lot of winners.

"He did not make a lot of errors from the baseline and that made my life very difficult. I tried to change the pace but he was better at that, so it was cat and mouse. I'm just pleased to get through.

"Whoever I play next, it's a big one and I've got to get ready. I'll try to focus on my game get some things better for the that match."

Tomic had been one of the stories of this year's tournament, stunning Robin Soderling in round three before beating Xavier Malisse to become the youngest man to make the quarter-finals since Boris Becker in 1986.

Ranked 158th in the world, he was aiming to be the first qualifier since Vladimir Voltchkov in 2000 to advance to the the last four, but Djokovic proved just too strong.

The second seed converted his fifth break point in a nine-minute opening game with a brilliant drop volley, and followed it up with three comfortable service holds for a 4-2 lead.

Tomic was moving and striking the ball with elegance, but his opponent could not put a foot wrong and secured the double break in game seven before serving out the first set to love with an ace.

The 6ft 4in right-hander was receiving plenty of support from the Court One crowd and it seemed to help him settle quickly at the beginning of the second set.

Djokovic was no longer attacking with the same aggression and after two doubles faults he fell 3-1 behind. Tomic then squandered a further two break points in game six, but eventually came through to level the match.

A huge shock seemed increasingly possible when Djokovic went long with a forehand in game four.

However, the turning point was soon to come as Tomic was broken to love in game six and then double-faulted to gift Djokovic an advantage, which he would not relinquish.

Djokovic struck in game one of the fourth set and, although Tomic replied to love with a stunning forehand return for 2-2, a beautifully disguised backhand drop shot gave the Serbian 6-5 and he served out to extend his 2011 win-loss record to 46-1.

Tomic said he took great heart from his best Grand Slam showing yet.

"When you do a result like this it tells you you're only a few matches away from winning a title. I know what my goals are now.

"I don't move as good as Novak. I'd love to improve my returns and return like him. Obviously that would put pressure on the opponent more in the future.

"I definitely think I have the game, and if I get the mental state, to win a major in the next hopefully two years."