Gasquet came back from a two-set deficit for the first time in his career to knock off the No. 3 Roddick 4-6, 4-6, 7-6 (2), 7-6 (3), 8-6 and move on to a semifinal against four-time defending champion Roger Federer.

Roddick had won 18 consecutive tiebreakers before losing the third set. Roddick and Gasquet finished with the same number of unforced errors, 29 apiece, but Gasquet complied a 93-60 edge in winners, including 18 passing shots.

"When I play good with my serve and my backhand I am really dangerous," the 12th-seeded Frenchman said.

Joining Gasquet and No. 1 Federer in the semifinals were No. 2 Rafael Nadal and No. 4 Novak Djokovic.

Henin will have to wait another year to try to complete a career Grand Slam after being stunned in the women's semifinals by Marion Bartoli, who will face Venus Williams in tomorrow's final. Williams, a three-time Wimbledon champion, beat No. 6 Ana Ivanovic 6-2, 6-4.

Bartoli ran Henin around the court over the final two sets, using incredible accuracy to come back from a set and break down to win 1-6, 7-5, 6-1.

"A match can turn easily," Bartoli said. "On a good day, I can beat everybody, and I proved it today."

The No. 31 Williams and the No. 20 Bartoli are the two lowest-ranked women to reach the Wimbledon final since the computer rankings began in 1975.

Henin, who lost to Amelie Mauresmo in last year's final, won her third straight French Open title last month. She broke Bartoli's serve to take a 4-3 lead in the second set, but Bartoli broke back in the next game and then again with Henin serving to force a tiebreaker.

Henin also held two break points in the first game of the third set.

"I still don't really realize what did happen," Henin said. "I didn't feel fresh enough in the third set to compete with her. She played very good tennis."

Williams reached the Wimbledon final for the sixth time, dominating yet another player ranked in the top 10.

"I was playing well in the first set and I didn't give her any chances," said Williams, who was ranked 16th when she won Wimbledon in 2005, the lowest previous ranking. "In the second, there were one or two games when I didn't play as well as I wanted to."

Williams started the season with a wrist injury. Seeded only 23rd at the All England Club, she struggled early in the tournament, coming within two points of defeat against 59th-ranked Alla Kudryavtseva in the first round and trailing 5-3 in the third set against 71st-ranked Akiko Morigami in the third round.

In the fourth round, Williams easily beat No. 2 Maria Sharapova in a match that started Tuesday but was suspended for the night by rain after only three points were played. Yesterday, Williams eliminated fifth-ranked Svetlana Kuznetsova.

"There's been so much rain and I was the one playing catch up. I was the one behind the rest of the draw," Williams said. "So it's exciting to be the first one in the final."

Federer dropped a set for the first time this year at the All England Club, but still beat Juan Carlos Ferrero 7-6 (2), 3-6, 6-1, 6-3.

"OK, a set is lost, but a match isn't lost," said Federer, who beat Nadal in last year's final.

Ferrero, the 2003 French Open champion and a former No. 1, broke Federer to go up 5-3 in the second set and then served it out, but that was the end of the Spaniard's influence on the match.

Before his brief spell on court yesterday, the top-ranked Federer had not played since beating Marat Safin last Friday in the third round. His fourth-round opponent, Tommy Haas, withdrew with an injury, giving Federer almost a week off.

"It was hard for me. I had many days off," Federer said. "I'm just really happy I came through it and I'm back in the rhythm now."

Federer, who stretched his grass-court winning streak to 52, is trying to win a fifth consecutive Wimbledon title, something only Bjorn Borg has done in the past 100 years.

Nadal was broken once early in the first set, but didn't faced any more serious challenges in beating Tomas Berdych 7-6 (1), 6-4, 6-2. He broke the Czech in the opening games of the second and third sets.

Nadal had his first match point on Berdych's serve at 5-1 in the third set, but the Czech erased it with an ace. Nadal wasted another in the next game, but won when Berdych sent a forehand into the net.

"I had to concentrate with the movement because the ball was very difficult to touch," Nadal said. "Today was very tough with the wind, but anyway I played very good."

The second-seeded Spaniard was stretched to five sets in the previous two rounds, with the former being played over a span of three days at the All England Club. If he wins tomorrow's semifinal against Djokovic, then Sunday's final would mark Nadal's seventh consecutive day on court.

Djokovic, who has also played on each the last five days, needed exactly five hours to beat Marcos Baghdatis 7-6 (4), 7-6 (9), 6-7 (3), 4-6, 7-5. The longest Wimbledon singles match every played on one day lasted only five minutes longer.