“Of course disappointed, when you lose in the final of a Grand Slam, especially in three sets, and I got a few opportunities that I haven’t been able to take,” Henin said.

The pair have some history, most notably the “talk to the hand” incident at the 2003 French Open, where the Belgian held up her hand during one of Serena’s first serves, but the chair umpire did not let the American replay the point, and Henin denied any wrongdoing. Henin subsequently won in a three-set grinder, and Serena was left a crying mess in her post-match conference, accusing the Belgian of “cheating, lying and fabricating.”

“I know he’d like to win the first [Slam title] for British tennis since what is it, 150,000 years?” Federer joked to the crowd after the match regarding Murray. “The poor guy who has to go through those moments over and over again…”

“In tennis you have to close it out,” Venus said. “It’s not like there’s a clock ticking and then suddenly it’s over. You just have to close it out. I didn’t do that today.”

Tsonga raced to an early 2-0 lead in the fifth set, and by the end Djokovic could do no more than flail at balls as the Frenchman clinched victory and a well-earned Federer meeting.

The Williams sisters were also forced to battle through the women’s doubles quarterfinals, defeating No. 8 seeds Bethanie Mattek-Sands of the U.S. and China’s Zi Yan 6-4, 4-6, 6-4.

“Yeah, I feel like if I play well I’m really tough to beat,” Williams said. “Still definitely feel that way. I’m so happy to see [Justine] Henin back and doing well. She’s such a good player and a fighter. I think she brings just a totally different theme to the game. Obviously Kim [Clijsters] is fun to have back on the tour, and her winning the US Open is awesome.”

“A lot of things,” Baghdatis said of what they sang. “Marcos, I love you. I will never stop singing for you. Stuff like this.”

The Belgian Henin made the difference in the match with some timely net forays and aggressive baseline play, taking the action to the Russian.

After almost 4-1/2 hours of effort, Blake was left pondering his hard luck and a 6-4, 6-7(3), 5-7, 6-3, 10-8 loss which leaves him 4-13 in career five-set matches.