Roddick beats Murray to reach Wimbledon final
3rd July 2009Andy Murray’s bid to reach the Wimbledon final ended on Friday afternoon as he was knocked out by Andy Roddick in four sets.
Playing in front of a packed crowd on Centre Court, Henman Hill and Court 2, where a full house watched on the big screen, Roddick defeated Murray 6-4 4-6 7-6(7) 7-6(5) in just over three hours.
Roddick produced a flawless grass court performance to reach his third final at The Championships, combining a high first serve percentage with aggressive baseline tennis.
The American, who fired down the tournament’s fastest serve at 143 mph, came to the net on 75 occasions with a 64 per cent success rate, a tactic that clearly influenced Murray’s rhythm.
After splitting the opening two sets, Roddick was serving at 5-3 in the third but the British No.1 fought back to force a tie-break. He then held a set point of his own but was unable to capitalise and a misplaced forehand at 7-7 allowed the No.6 seed a chance he did not refuse.
In the fourth set, all 12 games went with serve as the another tie-break beckoned. Suddenly, a slightly subdued Centre Court erupted with Roddick racing into a 6-4 lead, the balls in his hand.
Murray was not done though and brought the crowd to its feet by ripping a cross court backhand pass to keep his title hopes alive. However, the anticipation of a fifth set was short lived as a shanked return started a long rally which ended with Roddick booking a place in Sunday’s final against Roger Federer.
Federer, who is a five-time Wimbledon champion, will be chasing a record breaking 15th Grand Slam title after equalling Pete Sampras’s record of 14 at last month’s French Open. The former world No.1 saw off Tommy Haas 7-6(3) 7-5 6-3 earlier in the day to reach the final.
Meanwhile, Murray will be left to reflect on a fantastic grass court season. At Queen’s Club, he became the first British player to win the title in 71 years and followed this by reaching the Wimbledon semi-final, the best performance of his career at The All England Club.
Murray & Huber bow out in mixed doubles semi-final
Jamie Murray and American partner Liezel Huber missed out on a place in the mixed doubles final, losing to Bahamian Mark Knowles and German Anna-Lena Groenefeld, the No.9 seeds, 6-2 7-5.
Following the younger Murray on Centre Court, Murray and Huber could not find the form that saw them knock out American No.6 seeds Mike Bryan and Bethanie Mattek-Sands in the third round.
The unseeded pair have an impressive mixed doubles record together having reached the last four at Wimbledon in 2008 along with finishing runners-up at the US Open. Murray is also a former champion at The Championships, teaming up with Serbia’s Jelena Jankovic to lift the trophy in 2007.