Andy Murray defied by weather at Queen's Club

Play was suspended with the scores level at 3-3 in the opening set, and with the rain set in for the evening confirmation followed that the match will resume at 11am on Sunday, with the final not starting before 2.25pm.

Murray had just earned a sixth break point in the seventh game of the match when Troicki slipped badly and appeared to injure his shoulder.

But as the players waited for the physio, the rain started to fall - and within a couple of minutes the umpire called a suspension of play. An hour later it was clear no break in the deluge would come, and one of Murray or Troicki will have to play both semi-final and final on one day.

Should Murray come through his delayed semi-final - and given how well he was playing against Troicki, that seems highly likely - South Africa's Kevin Anderson awaits.

Anderson produced a devastating display of serving power to reach the final with a 6-3 6-7(6) 6-3 defeat of gallant Frenchman Gilles Simon.

Seventh seed Simon watched 34 aces fly past him on the slick Centre Court grass but hung on to stretch the towering South African into a decider before succumbing.

Anderson, ranked 17 in the world, will be in his first final on grass when he faces either top seed Murray or Serbia's Troicki in Sunday's final.

The 29-year-old Anderson has dropped serve only once on the way to the final, against former champion Lleyton Hewitt in round one when he was a point away from defeat.

Since then he has gathered momentum and has looked impregnable on serve, bashing down 96 aces.

"I think at this point it's more just about the rhythm and the way it feels," Anderson told reporters.

"I really feel it's been clicking the last few matches."

It was in the groove against the agile Simon who did not sniff a single break point.

Anderson is not just a monstrous server though.

He produced some precision groundstrokes and a couple of rasping forehands allowed him to break decisively in the eighth game of the opener.

Simon stuck to his task manfully to reach a tie-break in the second set but Anderson looked on the cusp of victory leading 5-4 with a mini-break and two service points to come.

But Simon turned it round, saving one match point when Anderson skewed a backhand wide, before levelling the match.

The decider went with serve until 4-3 when Anderson, whose baseline game was solid throughout, snatched the Frenchman's serve and he then duly sealed victory, predictably with an ace.