Federer will have to wait another year if he is to equal Pete Sampras' tally of seven Wimbledon titles after 12th-seed Tsonga battled through to win 3-6 6-7 (3-7) 6-4 6-4 6-4.

Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray and Rafael Nadal complete the semi-final line up after they won through their quarter-final matches on Wednesday.

Swiss Federer had never lost in a Grand Slam after holding a two set lead and things looked set to continue that way with the former world number one producing some vintage play to hold off the challenge of Tsonga.

Tsonga though held firm and went toe-to-toe with the third seed in a match that thrilled the Centre Court crowd.

The tide turned in the latter stages of the third and Tsonga began to edge Federer out in the important rallies with the Tsonga serve proving incredibly potent.

Tsonga took the third and fourth sets with a single break of serve and the Centre Court crowd began to realise that a huge upset could be on the cards.

Tsonga kept up the momentum at the start of the fifth set and managed to break the Federer serve. This break turned out to be crucial as the Frenchman held his nerve and continued to power down unreturnable serves.

At 5-4 Tsonga closed out the game - and the match as Federer sent a return off another booming Tsonga serve long over the baseline to the sound of rapturous applause from the crowd.

"I was just perfect today. I served just unbelievably," said Tsonga after the match.

"But in the match before I felt really confident on this shot. I hope it will continue.

"I'm the kind of player who likes these big moments. So I hope I will have some more.

"Can I win Wimbledon? Why not?"

Federer meanwhile, was philosophical in defeat;

"Except the score, many things went right," he said after promising to return next year.

"I was pretty pleased with my performance today and at least it took a special performance to beat me. He played an amazing match and didn't give me much hope."

Tsonga will face Serbian Novak Djokovic in Friday's semi-final after Djokovic saw off the challenge of Australian qualifier Bernard Tomic to bring an end to the 18-year-old's fantastic run. Djokovic won in four sets 6-2 3-6 6-3 7-5.

In the other semi-final Andy Murray will face Rafael Nadal for the second year running after they defeated their quarter-final opponents on Wednesday.

Andy Murray will be hoping for his first Wimbledon final appearance and was in fantastic form as he showed power and precision in defusing the challenge of Spaniard Feliciano Lopez 6-3 6-4 6-4.

"I thought it was good," Murray said after the match. "Feliciano looked a little tired and struggled a bit with his movement, but I thought I served well throughout the match.

"I'm playing well - you get pushed more and more as the rounds go on, and I'll have to up my game."

World number one Rafael Nadal had a slightly tougher time in his quarter-final but came through in four sets against American grass court specialist Mardy Fish, winning 6-3 6-3 5-7 6-4.

Nadal admitted afterwards he is slightly troubled by a foot injury but insisted it will not be a factor in his quest for another Wimbledon title.

"It is not fine but this is Wimbledon, it's an emergency," he said.

"It's my last big tournament for a month-and-a-half so I'm not worried. We've done tests and they didn't show anything important.

"I have pain in the foot, I cannot run in perfect condition, but the anaesthetic means I can't feel pain for five hours."