Federer v Hewitt - Live!

Second set: Federer* 6-3 4-2 Hewitt: The black clouds are massing and Hewitt appears to be unravelling. The game ends with another backhand poked into the middle of the net. Specks of rain on Centre Court.

Second set: Federer 6-3 3-2 *Hewitt: The signs are that Hewitt's Wimbledon campaign may well be slipping over the horizon. A gaggle of surprisingly wayward backhands gift-wraps a break of serve to Federer.

To add insult to injury, the Hewitt phobes are lining up. Clearly not everyone wants to claim kinship with the Aussie, not even his fellow homo-sapiens. "I know humanity can be ugly and hateful at times (such as during genocides)," says Tom Paternoster. "But as a species we're never as consistently ugly and hateful as that rat-faced little scrote Hewitt."

Second set: Federer* 6-3 2-2 Hewitt: Federer holds. Blink and you would have missed it.

Second set: Federer 6-3 1-2 *Hewitt: Hewitt clinging on, but he has yet to really get under Federer's skin and this, one suspects, is what he is going to have to do if he wants to win this one. The longer he stands there trading groundstrokes, the more loose and limber the champion becomes. Hewitt's best chance is to attempt to throw him off balance mess up his rhythm and embroil him in a street brawl. So far, Federer is dictating the pace.

Second set: Federer* 6-3 1-1 Hewitt: Sweet and simple service hold for the Fedster.

Second set: Federer 6-3 0-1 *Hewitt: Easy enough game for the Aussie at the start of set two.

First set: Federer* 6-3 Hewitt: The champion duly serves out the first set. Despite scoring with only 37% of his first serves, he's obviously the superior player out there at present.

"Does anyone else feel like this is not so much a game of tennis as a struggle between good and evil?" wonders Andy Davies "Everytime I see Hewitt he is "COME ON" ing at someone making an unforced error and generally being a ratty little man, where as Federer is a nice Swiss lad with not a bad word to say about anyone. Come on the forces of good, I reckon"

There's definitely something to be said for this theory, and Hewitt can ideed be a unpleasant little tick at times. But if we were being more charitable we might frame this contest as a struggle between God and man, with Federer's heavenly skills pitted against the rough-and-tumble, earthound qualities of Hewitt. Like him or not, he's someone we can at least relate to.

First set: Federer 5-3 *Hewitt: Federer surges to 0-30, before Hewitt claws his way back in. But it's too little, too late. The Swiss scoops the game with a teasing sliced backhand that the Aussie dumps in the net. And now Roger will serve for set one.

First set: Federer* 4-3 Hewitt: An elementary game for the Swiss, who appears to be slipping into an ominous, well-oiled groove Hewitt barely made any impression here.

First set: Federer 3-3 *Hewitt: Hewitt holds with a deft drop volley on the final point.

"Does anyone know the actual reason why tennis is seeded?"asks Simon Thomas "The players seem to think that it's designed to give them an easier ride but isn't it meant to keep the best players apart until the final, so as to ensure a better spectacle?" Possibly so, but this year the system seems to have thrown a spanner in the works, with Hewitt seeded at three even though his world ranking is two. And rumour has it that he's not bes pleased about it. Angry as a bulldog chewing a wasp would be more like it.

First set: Federer* 3-2 Hewitt: Early evidence suggests that Hewitt is staying with Federer without ever quite getting him on the back foot. The rallies are lengthy but the Aussie is struggling to grab the iniative.

First set: Federer 2-2 *Hewitt: The Aussie holds despite Swiss pressure, scrambling back and forth along the baseline to eke out the game. How many miles is he going to have to run in total this afternoon? If it goes five sets it'll be verging on a marathon.

Joanne Lenton mails to say, "I have a non-dodgy, very tenuous link to Lleyton, so I'm gunning for him." Non-dodgy, very tenuous? Tha would be second cousin, thrice removed, presumably. And I assume you have inherited the Hewitt backhand.

First set: Federer* 2-1 Hewitt: Battle is duly joined as Hewitt instantly claws back the break, with the Swiss suddenly looking a little edgy and ill-at-ease.

First set: Federer 2-0 *Hewitt: First blood to Federer. He breaks Hewitt's opening serve with a peachy forehand down the line. Hewitt will be wanting to stop the rot right about .... now.

First set: Federer* 1-0 Hewitt: Onto Centre Court step Roger Federer and Lleyton Hewitt, the silken Swiss and the Aussie terrier. The champion, naturally, starts as favourite, although Hewitt will doubtless be running for every ball. On paper, this has the makings of a classic. It may also turn out to be the contest that decides the title, seeing as both players appear to have the measure of Andy Roddick (the man most likely to meet the winner on Sunday). As Hewitt rather pointedly remarked, it's not often that you see the world's two best players squaring up in a semi-final

The artful Roger begins, as one might expect, with an easy hold.

Pre-amble: Lleyton Hewitt insists he can win this and, having only dropped two sets during Wimbledon 2005, that may be more than just talk. Another factor in the Australian's favour is his newly-remodelled serve: incredibly, he's third in the list of ace-hitters with 74, 14 more than Roger Federer. But the world No1 has won the last seven encounters against Hewitt, and is looking ominously good. This should be a cracker.