Krajicek edges out Philippoussis

Philippoussis was finally broken in the fifth set

Richard Krajicek is through to the quarter-finals of Wimbledon after a marathon, five-set battle with Australian Mark Philippoussis.

Krajicek finally beat his Australian opponent 6-7 7-6 6-7 7-6 6-4 in a match delayed a day and interrupted four times due to the Wimbledon weather.

After a festival of tie-breaks, the match stood all square at two sets all, with Krajicek, who needed an injury time-out, taking the fourth set before rain halted Tuesday's play.

Gamewatch: Philippoussis v Krajicek

Another day of bad weather meant that the two unseeded players didn't get on court until late on Wednesday afternoon.

Photo Gallery: See this match in pictures

When they finally did appear on Court One to complete the decisive fifth set, Philippoussis was immediately broken for the first time in the match.

Krajicek then held his own serve to open up a 2-0 lead before rain once again stopped played at approximately 1956 BST.

Rain disrupts Wimbledon

After play had been abandoned for the day on all the other courts the pair returned to seek a conclusion in the gloom at 2050 BST.

Philippoussis played the better tennis after the resumption but was unable to make the necessary break of the Krajicek serve and the Dutchman tied up the win after just more than four hours on court.

Afterwards, Krajicek, who has suffered a series of injury setbacks in the past two years, admitted his surprise at reaching the quarter-finals of the Grand Slam he won in 1996.

"I booked my holiday house for today and my wife is already there, so that shows how little confidence I had for the second week," he said.

But Philippoussis bore testimony to the remarkable recovery his opponent has made, tipping the Dutchman to reach Sunday's final.

"Definitely, the way he played. I think he can do some damage and he is definitely favourite."

Krajicek will now play Belgian Xavier Malisse in the last eight.