Ice-cool Roddick earns another shot at Federer

By Kevin Fylan

LONDON (Reuters) - Andy Roddick earned another chance to cast off the ''one-slam wonder'' tag he feared would live with him forever when steely nerve and a golden serve gave him a Wimbledon semi-final win over Andy Murray on Friday.

It was as if the Roddick of old was back on Center Court, as the American sixth seed played with the fearless swagger that took him to the U.S. Open title as a 21-year-old in 2003.

His reward for a 6-4 4-6 7-6 7-6 victory over the home favorite and third seed is a third appearance in the final at Wimbledon and once again it will be against Roger Federer, the man who denied him in 2004 and 2005.

Few had expected him to survive against Murray, four years his junior at 22, but all the extra hours of fitness work Roddick has put in under new coach Larry Stefanki paid off.

Roddick hired Stefanki, who took Chile''s Fernando Gonzalez to the 2007 Australian Open final, after failing to go beyond the quarter-finals of a grand slam last season.

At the time he wondered if he had a future at the top end of the game but under Stefanki''s guidance he lost around six kilos, to noticeable effect in the way he moves around court.

"This off-season, we said, ''You know what, if you''re not gonna be up there, let''s at least not wonder. Let''s prepare yourself and give yourself every opportunity''," said Roddick.

"I did work real hard and was committed, and have been committed from everything to diet to sleep to everything. So I certainly gave myself every opportunity to succeed."

DEADLY SERVE

He used his most potent weapon to good effect on Friday, serving a 225 kph ace in the first game to draw gasps from the crowd and finishing with a first serve percentage of 75.

He took the first set with a break in the last game, backing Murray into a corner during a long rally to force an error, but the Scot broke at the start of the second set to let the American know he would be in for a real scrap.

The Briton consolidated with three consecutive aces in the next game and there was a palpable air of confidence in the crowd as he held the advantage through the set.

Roddick showed great character to hold his serve at the start of the third set, coming from 0-40 down, and the American seized a chance to break himself in the fourth game.

Roddick served for the set at 5-3 but Murray somehow managed to cling on to force the first of two impossibly tense tiebreaks that decided the match.

Set-point down at 5-6, Roddick played a nerveless drop volley to stay alive and followed it up with a massive ace. Murray held his first serve but then mishit a forehand to give Roddick a set-point and he took it 9-7 thanks to a service sliced out wide.  Continued...