Wimbledon has finally discovered Marat Safin. A superstar around the tennis world, a Russian bear of a man with an armoury of clubbing shots, an articulator to rival Goran Ivanisevic and a lovable grump — he has it all.

And now, after outlasting Feliciano Lopez 3-6, 7-5, 7-6, 6-3, Safin has a first Wimbledon semi-final to savour against Roger Federer. Well, not savour, because Marat never admits to savouring anything.

Instead, it is with relief that he has rediscovered the touch that took him to the world No 1 ranking eight years ago and won him two Grand Slams. As for beating Federer, forget it.

Marat Safin: will meet Roger Federer in the semi-final

Safin said: ‘I’m playing in the semi-finals but that doesn’t mean that I have a chance there because the guy has won how many titles already here? Five, and he’s on the way to winning a sixth title.

‘To beat Federer, you need to be Nadal and run around like a rabbit and hit winners from all over the place. It’s a chance, but it’s just a little bit too difficult for me to beat him.’

So that’s it, then. Safin will be squashed and Federer is in the final again. Don’t believe a word.

Beneath the world-on-his-shoulders exterior and a patent on shrugs beats the heart of a champion.

Four years ago in Melbourne, Safin surged to the Australian Open final on a similar wave of confidence. His ranking then was 86. This time it is 75. Perhaps uniquely, the man can win any tournament from any position in the draw.

His natural talent is the match of Federer’s. His mind, when it is fortified by belief, is not for shaking. What began in May as an enforced participation in the qualifying event for the Hamburg Masters because of his lowly ranking has culminated in a run to the semi-finals of a Grand Slam on a surface he despises.

‘I started to think that I had lost it completely, the way I played in the past year. Nothing worked. I was losing first rounds left and right. I was really desperate and I didn’t know what to do.

‘Then all of a sudden just out of nowhere I started to play better and the confidence started to come. I touched the bottom and made the choice to play “qualies” in Hamburg. People said “What are you doing?”

‘But I went there and this tournament, the Wimbledon semi-finals, is the pay-off for the Hamburg qualies. It’s worth it.’

What had been billed as the battle of the hunks on No 1 Court became instead the slog of the grumps as Safin and Lopez chuntered and chided their way through a match that was bereft of quality for long periods.

So bad-tempered were they with themselves and the world at times that it would have been no surprise had Victor Meldrew suddenly appeared in the umpire’s chair.

When all else is absent, though, the bubbling volcano that is the Safin psyche is always on show. It  erupted three times in the 27 minutes of play possible before rain chased the players off court for a two hour adjournment.

Twice he threw his racket to the floor before incurring a ball abuse code violation warning for launching one out of No 1 Court and on to Henman Hill. Had the good folk out there not known who was playing, they would still have guessed it was Safin.

Becalmed by the rain break, it was a different Safin who reemerged from the locker room.

A different Lopez, too, as both men appeared to sense that momentum was shifting in spite of the Spaniard serving out the first set.

Safin stole the second, dominated the third set tiebreak and then strolled through the fourth. Tomorrow will be anything but a stroll. For Safin, naturally. But also for Federer.