0
LONDON, June 14: Andy Roddick ripped apart Andre Agassi’s baseline game and unloaded the fastest-ever serve on Saturday to reach the final of the Stella Artois Championships.
Roddick had never beaten the newly-crowned world number one in four previous matches but, under a cloudless west London sky, he was irrepressible, winning 6-1 6-7 7-6.
After motoring through the first set in just 20 minutes, Roddick cranked up the power.
In the second game of the second set the courtside speed gun registered he had hit the fastest serve on record, a 149 miles (239.8 km) per hour thunderbolt equalling the mark made by Greg Rusedski in Indian Wells five years ago.
Agassi, the best returner in the game, was left powerless. But he stuck to his guns and levelled the match on a tiebreak.
Roddick, however, never flinched, crashing winners all over the court — including 27 aces — to clinch victory.
Semifinal results
Sebastien Grosjean (France) b Tim Henman (Britain) 6-3 6-4; Andy Roddick (U.S.) bt Andre Agassi (U.S.) 6-1 6-7 (5-7) 7-6 (8-6)
HALLE (Germany): Unseeded German Nicolas Kiefer produced a stirring comeback to beat Frenchman Arnaud Clement 4-6 7-6 6-4 and reach the Halle Open final for the second successive year on Saturday.
World number 73 Kiefer, runner-up to Yevgeny Kafelnikov last year, overcame an erratic start to triumph and set up a meeting with either top seed Roger Federer or Russia’s Mikhail Youzhny.
Despite being engaged in a three hour 22-minute marathon against Karol Kucera in the previous round, eighth seed Clement showed no signs of fatigue in the early stages.
After saving five break points at 2-2, the Frenchman broke Kiefer in the ninth game and served out for the opening set.
Both players saved break points early in the second set as it headed for a tiebreak.
Twice Clement led by a mini-break, but Kiefer, playing more aggressively, hit back to snatch it 7-4 and level the match.
That knocked the strength out of Clement’s legs, and after breaking in the opening game of the decider, Kiefer held on to serve for the match at 5-4.
The German double-faulted on his first match point and mishit the ball long on his second before clinching victory when Clement’s forehand went wide.
“I am a little disappointed today but I think this was my best match of the tournament,” Clement said.
Semifinal results:
Roger Federer (Switzerland) bt Mikhail Youzhny (Russia) 4-6 7-6 (7-4) 6-2; Nicolas Kiefer (Germany) bt Arnaud Clement (France) 4-6 7-6 (7-4) 6-4
BIRMINGHAM (England): Magdalena Maleeva stared into the abyss then pulled back to book her place in Sunday’s final of the WTA grasscourt tournament here on Saturday.
The experienced Bulgarian, seeded three, overcame 20-year-old Eleni Daniilidou 6-3, 5-7, 6-4 in an absorbing semi-final lasting two hours and 21 minutes.
The match was packed full of incident, with Daniilidou needing treatment midway through the deciding set after twisting her left knee, and contained no fewer than 15 breaks of serve.
Daniilidou, who was involved in a three-hour marathon quarter-final with Thai player Tamarine Tanasugarn on Friday, had three opportunities to clinch the point which would have given her a 5-3 lead in the final set.
But she appeared to lose concentration after disputing a line call in the crucial eighth game and was broken to love in her next service game, allowing Maleeva to serve out for victory.
It will be the 20th final of the Bulgarian’s career and her first appearance in the Birmingham showpiece at the third attempt.
Maleeva will play either Shinobu Asagoe of Japan or Russian starlet Maria Sharapova in Sunday’s final.
Semifinal results:
Shinobu Asagoe (Japan) bt Maria Sharapova (Russia) 6-2 2-6 7-6 (7-3); Magdalena Maleeva (Bulgaria) bt Eleni Daniilidou (Greece) 6-3 5-7 6-4
VIENNA: Sixth-seeded Argentine Paola Suarez beat Croatia’s Karolina Sprem to win the Vienna Grand Prix 7-6 2-6 6-4 win on Saturday.
Despite entering as a qualifier, Sprem got the better of defending champion Israeli Anna Pistolesi, seventh-seeded Denisa Chladkova and French Open quarter-finalist Vera Zvonareva. —Reuters
