Grosjean at home on grass

For a French baseliner who is supposed to be overcome by hay fever at the mere sight of a grass court, Sebastien Grosjean has a strange liking for the lawns of Wimbledon. As dark clouds descended on this nation's sporting summer on Wednesday evening, the 10th seed defied the showers to storm into his second successive semi-final where he will meet defending champion Roger Federer today.

With the rest of the All England Club distracted by Henman hysteria, Grosjean has taken advantage of his relative anonymity to pass quietly through the rounds and, unlike his opponent today, has not dropped a set in the Championships. It's surely time his threat was taken seriously.

Grosjean's record makes a mockery of the myth that the French can't play on grass.

As well as successive semi-finals here he has reached the final at Queen's for the past two years, losing to Andy Roddick on both occasions, and won the Samsung Open in Nottingham four years ago.

Grosjean is actually more comfortable at Wimbledon than on the clay of his home Grand Slam at Roland Garros, as grass is the surface most similar to the hard courts he grew up on in Marseilles.

He said: "I'm very comfortable on grass and my serve is better than on clay. It's a little bit faster and I use the slice serve more often.

"I return well and that helps me a lot on the grass. It's more of a game on that court and I just try to enjoy myself. Grass is a surface I love to play on and I'll just go out there and play my game."

Although Federer is the clear favourite, Grosjean has the game to trouble the Swiss if he slips below his mesmeric best, relying on a big serve, quick hands and a devastating forehand. The 26-year-old's serving has been more impressive than Federer's in the past fortnight and he boasts more aces to his name at a faster pace.