By Nick Georgandis

With his gutsy win on Wednesday over David Ferrer, Andy Murray is into the WImbledon semifinals for a fourth straight year.
He's never been to the final.

It's an all too common story for men of the British Empire these last 76 years. It's the most staggering stat in men's tennis. No British man has won a Grand Slam title since 1936, and the most painful of those droughts is the one at the All England Club, which has been owned by everyone but the English since before World War II.

And so, Murray, the pride of Glasgow, Scotland, and a resident of nearby London, once again finds himself with the weight of an entire nation of tennis fans' hopes and dreams across his broad shoulders.

Despite the lack of titles, the last decade and a half has been the Brits' best at Wimbledon since the last championship (Fred Perry, 1936) was won. Since Tim Henman made it to the 1996 quarterfinals unseeded, a British man has reached at least the final eight in 12 of the past 16 years.

Henman was Murray before Murray was Murray. He lost in the quarterfinals four times and the semifinals four times between 1996 and 2004, reached No. 4 in the world, and won a ton of matches and lesser titles ... sound familiar?

Before Henman's push in 1996, the UK had not had a man reach the final eight at Wimbledon since third-seeded Roger Taylor lost a five-set semifinal in 1973. Taylor also fell in the semifinals in 1967 and 1970.

If Murray can win one more match, he'll be the first British man to reach the Wimbledon final since Geoffrey Brown did so in 1946. Brown, the third seed, lost an epic final, 2-6, 4-6, 9-7, 7-5, 4-6 to France's Yvon Petra. To do so, he'll have to get through Jo-Wilfried Tsonga -- the first time in three years he'll face a player he outranks in this round after back-to-back whippings at the hands of Rafael Nadal.

He should reach the final, being 5-1 all-time against Tsonga, including 2-0 on grass. But winning the actual title? Well, that might be a horse of a different color.

If his opponent is Roger Federer, Murray has a real shot - he's 8-7 versus Federer all-time. But if King Roger is the opponent come Sunday, Murray's biggest opponent might be the legacy of the six-time champion.

Murray is 5-8 all-time against Djokovic, who is seeking to become the seventh man in Open Era history to repeat as Wimbledon champion. While his overall record is a losing one, Murray has claimed two of his last four matches against the current No. 1