It was a toss-up which was the heavier - the expectations of a nation or the serve of Mark Philippoussis.

In the end Tim Henman coped admirably with the first and not so well with the second as his Wimbledon dream was shattered by the big-hitting Aussie in a dramatic and enthralling match on Centre Court.

It was heartbreak for Henman, who has treated his fans to some high drama on Centre Court over the past few years.

And as the final Philippoussis sword thrust was driven home with four aces in the last game of an unbearably tense final set Henman snapped his racket with a frustrated swipe at his own foot.

He left his spiritual home tight-lipped and almost in tears and you had to sympathise with his effort.

But so too must we salute the stamina of Philippoussis, who has now taken more than eight hours to win his last two matches to earn a showdown with Andre Agassi.

Last evening's 6-1 5-7 6-7 6-3 6-4 triumph over Henman took a mere three hours and 12 minutes after the five hours needed to dispose of Sjeng Schalken on Saturday.

And he did it in the face of a patriotic crowd fluttering flags of St George and shouting themselves hoarse in a bid for a British victory.

Philippoussis, known as 'Scud' for the power of the missiles he serves, believes he can win this tournament.

For much of the first set the Centre Court crowd sat in stunned disbelief as they watched him simply demolish Henman.

It was all over in 21 minutes of the most explosive serving this championship has seen and during which Henman, so timid and tentative on his volleys, won just nine points. One Philippoussis serve recorded 137mph on the radar gun, others broke the 130 barrier.

To Henman's credit the response was immediate and courageous, especially when he suffered the disappointment of losing his service in the fifth game, immediately after he had broken the Aussie's serve.

No matter. He retained his concentration, not always a Henman strongpoint, to gradually draw the sting from the Philippoussis delivery. And while a double fault certainly helped along the way he deservedly levelled the match, breaking the Philippoussis serve on his third set point in the 12th game.

Now, as the shadow moved across Centre Court, we had a match the all-court grace of Henman against the raw power of Philippoussis.

The set went with serve in regulation fashion, but you could never say that about the phenomenal tie-break which followed.

It had everything. Aces, scintillating returns, lucky net cords, and one second serve of 128mph by Philippoussis.

But Henman was always one step ahead at the business end of the points and eventually on his seventh set point he clinched the set, 11-9 in the tie-break.

Sadly the fourth set slipped away from Henman as inexorably as the third had gone his way.

He lost his serve in the sixth game and suddenly the momentum was with the Aussie as he closed out the set.

And so to the final set and surely the tiredness would take its toll on the belligerent Aussie.

There was barely a rally in sight in those final moments - but the tension was almost unbearable. And it was a scream from the crowd which may have finally unhinged Henman's challenge.

At love-30 in the seventh game Henman prepared to drive a volley away when the yell disturbed him and he pushed the volley long.

It gave Philippoussis three set points and, though Henman saved two, he could do nothing with a mishit return lob from his opponent which landed on the baseline.

At 4-3 down Henman was facing oblivion and so it proved, Philippoussis conserving his energy for his final service game which was as devastating as it was impressive.

Four times he boomed down serves which Henman could get nowhere near, such were there force and precision.

And as the Aussie raised both arms in triumph Henman snapped his racquet against his foot.

There are plenty more racquets - it's the broken dream which will take longer to mend.

l Andre Agassi served up a warning to his Wimbledon rivals as he cruised into the quarter-finals.

The second seed dispatched qualifier David Prinosil of Germany in straight sets to set up a last eight showdown with Philippoussis.

And the world number one was in confident mood after overcoming some question marks over his form in recent weeks.

''Everything seems to be coming together nicely,'' said Agassi after his 6-4 6-3 6-3 victory. ''I was a bit concerned coming here.

''You are only as confident as your last few results (he lost in the second round in the French Open and retired hurt at Queen's) and I needed to get through the first week and make sure I didn't judge my game too harshly, stay positive.

''This is the best I have felt through the tournament. That's a nice thing to feel going into the quarter-finals because this is really when you want your game to come around. I'm in a position to start playing my best tennis now.'