Nestor/Zimonjic fight back to reach final

Daniel Nestor and Nenad Zimonjic on their toes against James Blake and Mardy Fish in the men's doubles. Holders Daniel Nestor and Nenad Zimonjic came back from two sets down to see off Americans James Blake and Mardy Fish and keep their hopes of a second straight men’s doubles crown alive. Nestor and Zimonjic eventually recovered to win 5-7, 3-6, 6-2, 7-6 (7-3), 10-8 in a match lasting three hours and 28 minutes to set up a meeting in the final with Bob and Mike Bryan.They had to see off an inspired attempt by the Americans and, in particular, an on-song Blake, who has impressed immensely in the doubles competition since his shock first round exit in the singles to Italian Andreas Seppi. Blake underlined his form in the team game with some terrific return winners throughout the match but it was enough. Both Zimonjic (at 0-1) and Blake (at 4-2) lost their serves in the first set before the Americans snatched it, breaking the Nestor serve at 5-6. At 30-30, Nestor was unable to react to Fish’s fine backhand and Blake took the first set with one of his trademark returns. The return winners continued in the second set and Fish/Blake broke with Nestor serving at 3-4 thanks to a double fault by the Canadian and Fish served out the set. But Nestor and Zimonjic came roaring back into the match. Some fine net play from both helped them to break both the Blake and Fish serves in the third set and they took it 6-2. The fourth set was a close affair but the Americans were left to rue their luck. Nestor held serve at 3-4 after saving a break point. The set went to a tiebreak and a poor shot by Blake into the net at 3-3 gave Nestor/Zimonjic the crucial mini-break. They forced three set points and when Blake shot wide on the first, it ensured a fifth set. Both sets of players kept their nerve throughout the final set, with all holding serve until 8-8. But then Fish was broken, with Nestor smashing backhanded to take the crucial break. And Zimonjic jubilantly held out to end an excellent day’s entertainment on Centre Court. Centre Court - Gentlemen's Doubles - Semifinals James Blake USA / Mardy Fish USA 7 6 2 63 8 Daniel Nestor CAN (2)/ Nenad Zimonjic SRB (2) 5 3 6 77 10

Verdasco vanquishes Briton's challenge

Verdasco focus Sometimes it can seem that there is a gulf a mile wide between two players facing each other across the net. That was the case today when the number seven seed Fernando Verdasco saw off James Ward 6-1, 6-3, 6-4. No doubt the mere experience of playing on No.1 Court will stand Ward in good stead, but Verdasco’s superior skill in every department left the British wild card brutally exposed. Verdasco, an Australian Open semi-finalist this year, spelled out the pattern of the match in the opening game, where his swashbuckling strokeplay plundered an immediate break. Ward, in his Grand Slam debut, was clearly feeling the nerves, struggling on his first serve. He sent an easy volley long before delivering a double fault for break point. It was easy pickings for Verdasco, as he dismantled Ward’s game with horrible ease. The crowd did their best for the Briton, roaring him on when he mustered his first game point with the score at 0-4. He needed three attempts before he could convert the chance, but convert he did to an ovation. But his groundstrokes were drifting long, and 25-year-old Verdasco took the set at a brisk stroll 6-1. The last time a British wild card defeated a seed at Wimbledon was a generation ago, when Nick Brown heroically saw off Goran Ivanisevic in 1991. Encouragingly Ward won his first Challenger title last month, at Sarasota, as a qualifier. But before this afternoon he had never faced a top 10 player before, with the highest-ranked player he has ever defeated being the world number 87 Victor Crivoi at Eastbourne last week. True, both Verdasco and Ward are currently enjoying a career high in the world rankings, but there’s a big difference - Verdasco is at number seven while Ward is 220. At 3-0 to Verdasco in the second, a voice from the crowd called out optimistically: “Come on, Ward! You’ve got him on the run!” Maybe it did some good, because Ward promptly held to love and then held again. He even notched up a break point to put the set back on serve, but Verdasco saved with an ace. Gaining confidence, Ward did not surrender his serve again, so the set had a more respectable appearance than the first, but Verdasco was well within his comfort zone. Even so, Ward was now motoring. First he managed not to yield the opening game of the new set for the first time in the match. Then at 4-3 he held two points for a 5-3 lead and a chance to serve for the set. But Ward put the first in the net and Verdasco outplayed him for the second. The inevitable could be postponed no longer. Ward was tiring, and the Spaniard broke him in the next game before wrapping up the match in 90 minutes.