Novak Djokovic warns Andy Murray of 'best ever form' at Wimbledon

A DEFIANT Novak Djokovic looms as the menacing presence favoured to deny British tennis the champion it cherishes above all others.

A DEFIANT Novak Djokovic prepares for his Wimbledon quarter-final tonight as the menacing presence favoured to deny British tennis the champion it cherishes above all others.

Andy Murray carries the hopes of a nation waiting to celebrate its first men's champion at Wimbledon for 77 years.

Djokovic, though, plays Tomas Berdych, the No7 seed from the Czech Republic, on No.1 Court at 1pm (10pm AEST) with a grass-court mission compounded by his failure to land the French Open last month, one of the most crushing setbacks of the Serb's career.

His defeat in five sets by Rafael Nadal, from 4-2 ahead in the final set of the semi-final, was one that took Djokovic a good few heart-rending days to recover from. He chose not to play any tennis on grass in the interim - Murray won the AEGON Championships at Queen's Club, having missed the French Open with a back injury - and looks to be at his peak.

"My game is very, very good, even the best that it has ever been on grass, because I developed my skills over the years to play on this unique surface," Djokovic said.

"You don't get to play much, you don't get much time to practise, but over the years I managed to understand what I needed to do to get to the highest level of performance.

"When I won the trophy in 2011, I believed it was as close as I could have got to the perfect game. I can compare to that year, and [now I am] better because I am so physically strong, more stable on the court, I have more efficiency in my serve, I get more returns back, and this is very important."

All of this sounds like a recipe for a sharp intake of British optimism. Murray is in about as good nick as he could possibly be, there are no aches and strains, he is looking after his body with ever greater care and consideration - and yet Djokovic looks that little bit better in every respect.

There can be no doubt that the deflation in Paris intensified his desire, as if it was not powerful enough. "It was an emotional loss and not easy for me to handle for a few days after it happened, because I put a lot of physical and mental effort into winning the French Open trophy," Djokovic said.

"And I was saying it out loud, everyone knew it was the priority of the season, and I went for it and it didn't happen.

"It's fine. I'm sure it will help me to get stronger. For me to play this well at Wimbledon after what happened in Paris is a great achievement generally."

Djokovic is aiming to reach his thirteenth consecutive grand- slam tournament semi-final. David Ferrer, the world No3-in-waiting, and Juan Martin del Potro, the No8 seed from Argentina, start proceedings on Centre Court.

Their duel precedes Murray's meeting with the Spanish left-hander Fernando Verdasco, the world No.54.

For the first time in the Open era, the Wimbledon women's semi-final line-up will not include a grand-slam champion. Sabine Lisicki, of Germany, followed up her victory over Serena Williams in the fourth round by securing a 6-3, 6-3 victory over Kaia Kanepi, of Estonia, and will meet the top seed left in the event, Agnieszka Radwanska, of Poland, the losing finalist a year ago.

More incredible is the meeting of Marion Bartoli, the Frenchwoman who chose to play at this year's Wimbledon without the company of her father, Walter, her constant companion across many years, and Kirsten Flipkens, of Belgium, who did not even have a ranking high enough to make the qualifying competition a year ago.

The Times