Roddick sets up Murray clash

 

Originally published on: 26/02/10 12:38

Sixth seed Roddick needed three hours and 50 minutes to see off his Australian opponent, recording a 6-3 6-7 (10/12) 7-6 (7/1) 4-6 6-4 triumph on Court One.

Defeat ended a remarkable run at SW19 for unseeded Hewitt, who has now lost all three of his meetings with Roddick on grass.

An early break quickly gained Roddick a 3-0 lead in the first set and Hewitt, despite growing in confidence as the set progressed, was unable to make much of a breakthrough on his opponent’s big serve and the sixth seed was able to close out the opener in just 27 minutes.

The second set needed a tie-break to separate the pair, and a couple of errors from Hewitt allowed Roddick to gain a 5-2 lead, but the unseeded Australian claimed the next three points to pull level.

The pair then became involved in a long and tense battle to take the set before a winning backhand from Hewitt and a long return from Roddick saw the former edge the tie-break 12-10.

Having slogged it out for 61 minutes in the previous set, the third was a tepid affair as both players looked to conserve energy. With no break-point chances on offer, another tie-break soon arrived and once again it was Roddick who gained an early edge and built on his cushion to quickly wrap up the tie-break and take a two-sets-to-one lead.

Another tie-break looked likely in the fourth before Hewitt dug deep to tee up a break point in game 10 and Roddick duly gifted him the set.

As the fifth progressed it was beginning to look like it would take an error to settle the match, and that proved to be the case when Hewitt slipped up in the ninth game.

Two wild shots from the Australian gifted Roddick two break points, and the sixth seed happily took the second with a forehand at the net. That left Roddick serving for the match, and although Hewitt battled hard to break back, the American sealed the victory when his opponent hit a forehand long.

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