Xavier Malisse became the first Belgian ever to reach the Wimbledon men's singles semi-final as he ended 1996 champion Richard Krajicek's miraculous comeback from a 20-month injury nightmare.
The Dutchman feared only a month ago that elbow trouble might still finish his career but he battled to take his young opponent all the way.
It looked as though Krajicek's injuries, soreness and the effects had taken their toll as Malisse raced through the opening set on his way to a 6-1 4-6 6-2 3-6 9-7 victory.
He secured three breaks of service in the first set against Krajicek who had been broken only once in five sets during his epic fourth-round win over fellow big-server Mark Philippoussis which finished late last night.
But Krajicek, chipping and charging effectively, hit back to go 5-4 ahead in the second set, converting his third break point.
The see-saw match swung again as Malisse broke twice to take the third set but Krajicek retaliated straight away winning the opening game against serve and broke again in the final one to take the fourth set 6-3 and set up another epic finale.
The first 15 games went with serve before the pony-tailed Belgian youngster finally broke to lead 8-7, courtesy of a wild double fault by Krajicek, and this time the Dutchman had nothing left as Malisse served out for victory.