Andy Roddick reached his first Wimbledon final at the expense of Mario Ancic today and will meet Roger Federer in tomorrow's final. Roddick recovered from losing the second set when play resumed on court one this afternoon to record a 6-4 4-6 7-5 7-5 semi-final win over the unseeded Croatian.
"He was certainly making it tough for me so it's a lot of relief, I'm so happy to be playing a Wimbledon final," said Roddick. "I never dreamt I'd be playing professional tennis never mind being one of the top players and playing Grand Slam finals."
The 22-year-old American took the first set and was a break up in the second when rain stopped play on Friday evening, but was at 30-40 on his serve. Ancic wasted no time in taking that point when play resumed today and, after holding his own serve, promptly broke Roddick again to take the set 6-4 and level the match at one set all.
The second seed was clearly rattled and complained about some music he could hear being played elsewhere at the All England Club, saying: "I feel like I'm in Indiana Jones or something!" Roddick was in severe danger of letting his frustrations get the better of him after losing four games in a row to the man who had ended Tim Henman's challenge in impressive fashion in the quarter-finals.
After the off-court music it was the pace of play he found to his disliking next, complaining to the umpire about Ancic taking too long between points and saying: "Can we play at my pace, I am serving right?"
The US Open champion quickly fell 0-40 down on his serve and faced a total of five break points in the second game, but rallied to superbly to hold serve. Only his second love service game of the match saw Roddick stay on level terms at 4-4, but after Ancic had edged ahead again at 5-4 the first rain of the day forced the players off court.
Strangely play continued on the outside courts while Roddick and Ancic were back in the locker room, and it was not long before they were back on court. This time it was Roddick who came out firing on all cylinders, holding serve comfortably and then breaking Ancic in the next game to go 6-5 ahead.
Four thunderous serves later and he taken the set 7-5 for a two sets to one lead, and within sight of a first Wimbledon final against defending champion Roger Federer.
The fourth set went with serve until Ancic crumbled under the pressure in the 11th game. A double fault gave Roddick two break points and although Ancic produced a brilliant second serve to save the first, another double fault gifted his opponent the break and a chance to serve for the match.
Roddick had the advantage of serving with new balls but needed to save a break point before finally completing victory to set up an eagerly anticipated final between the first and second seeds.
Filed by Johnny Proby
