Rainer Schuettler spent last night trying to persuade his parents Karl and Klara they should travel over from their German home and watch him play in his first Wimbledon semi-final.

He had just spent five hours and 12 minutes spread over two days disposing of Arnaud Clement to win 8-6 in the fifth set in a clash on Court One that was 17 minutes short of claiming the record for the longest match in Wimbledon history.

Then the hard work began! "They don't want to come," he revealed. "They told me they'd rather have a party at home and have all their friends and family around to watch. I'm still hoping to be able to change their minds."

The 32-year-old was supposed to be walking in the Swiss mountains near his home in Altstaetten this week but had to cancel his plans after his unexpected progress.

He reached the fourth round in 2003 when he lost in straight sets to Sjeng Schalken. Yet wins over Santiago Ventura, James Blake, Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, Janko Tipsarevic and Clement have left him with one final shot at glory - only problem is he's now got to play Rafael Nadal today on Centre Court.

"I'm just going to enjoy it," Schuettler added. "I will probably never get this chance again and that is why I wanted my parents to come and watch.

"I can't worry about playing Rafa. I am just going to go for my shots, be aggressive and see what happens."

The German joked he was too old to go for an ice bath after yesterday's marathon against Clement. The All England Club have at least been kind to him and scheduled his semi-final as the second match on court after defending champion Roger Federer takes on Marat Safin in the first semi. Yet it is difficult to see how Schuettler can overcome such huge odds and reach only his second Grand Slam final.

Five years ago he made it all the way in Melbourne but was totally outclassed by Andre Agassi on the biggest day of his tennis career and won only five games.

Nadal overpowered Andy Murray on Wednesday after the Scot had been through a similar five-set match - and the Briton had had a day to recover.

But the world No94 insisted he was not worried and said: "He [Nadal] has an advantage anyway. He's pretty fit anyway.

"But I don't really care. I also work hard. I'm physically fit. We played I think three hours today, and yesterday two. But when you play normal tournaments, you play on hard courts or clay courts, it's normal. You play two hours one day, and next day three hours, three and a half.

"Obviously he has an advantage, but I will be okay. I'm not so tired."

World No2 Nadal leads 3-1 in matches between the players - his only defeat to the German came in their first meeting in Basle four years ago. Schuettler has only won 12 matches this year - in that time Nadal has won five tournaments and the French Open title.

Against Clement, though, the unseeded player showed determinationto win a dramatic match and will need to dig into his reserves of strength again.

The Frenchman is no stranger to long encounters having lost to Fabrice Santoro in the 2004 French

Open in six hours and 33 minutes - the longest ever match in men's professional tennis.

Clement is confident his close friend can recover and still give Nadal - who has only lost one set so far at Wimbledon - a tough afternoon-After Schuettler won 6-3, 5-7, 7-6, 6-7, 8-6, Clement said: "It was a fantastic match. But it's tough when you have a match point and you finally lose a Grand Slam quarter-final. It's a fantastic moment, it's just a little bit hard for the moment."

The pair embraced at the conclusion of the match and Clement revealed the mutual respect between the two: "I just said, 'Very good match, Rainer, and good luck'. But it's not about the words. It's just in the eyes, the respect. You can see it in the eyes. In a few words, it's tough. Maybe we can talk about this in a few weeks.

"Honestly, I'm happy for him, because he is a very good guy."