Andy Murray looks to defy history at Wimbledon

Reporting from Wimbledon, England — With England long gone from the World Cup soccer tournament, it will be up to Andy Murray on Friday to keep British hopes alive in another sporting event, Wimbledon.

Murray, seeded fourth, will play second-seeded and world No. 1-ranked Rafael Nadal in the second men’s semifinal on Centre Court after third-seeded Novak Djokovic and 12th-seeded Tomas Berdych open the day.

As soon as Berdych beat defending and six-time champion Roger Federer in the quarterfinals, Nadal became the favorite. The only pressure on Murray? Trying to become the first British man in 72 years to make the final.

The last British-born Wimbledon men’s finalist was Bunny Austin in 1938. The last title winner was Fred Perry in 1936.

“It’s obviously been a huge, huge wait for us,” Murray said. “You just learn how to put [that pressure] to the back of your mind.”

Nadal has made his reputation as a clay-court expert but won Wimbledon in 2008 by beating Federer in the final and was runner-up here in 2006 and 2007. An injured knee kept Nadal from defending his title last year and that knee has bothered him here, most notably in the fourth round. But after he beat sixth-seeded Robin Soderling in the quarterfinals, Nadal said his knee is fine.

In other news Thursday:

-- Justine Henin, who took a hard fall in her fourth-round loss to Kim Clijsters, said on her website that she partially tore a ligament in her right elbow and will miss the next two months including the U.S. Open.

--Venus and Serena Williams were each fined $4,000 for failing to attend a requested news conference Wednesday after they were upset in the women’s doubles quarterfinals. “I was unaware,” Serena said. “Only usually in the finals they ask, so I’m shocked to see that.”

--Usually it’s Bob and Mike Bryan from Camarillo who represent Southern California late in Grand Slam doubles draws but this year it’s Long Beach’s Vania King who is still playing. She and Yaroslava Shvedova will meet Liezel Huber and Bethanie Mattek-Sands in the semifinals.

diane.pucin@latimes.com

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