Roddick Fires Past Agassi into Final

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Third seed Andy Roddick saved one match point to defeat new world No. 1 Andre Agassi and reach his first final at the Stella Artois Championships.

The 20-year-old Roddick fired down 27 aces and hit one serve at a record equalling 149 mph en route to a 6-1, 6-7(5), 7-6(6) victory, having saved a match point at 5-6 in the tie-break. It was Roddick's first victory against Agassi in five meetings.

"It wasn't the most convincing win ever, but against Andre it's not going to be," said Roddick. "I played pretty flawlessly in the first set and came close to it in the second. But he came back and he probably should have won the third. I was down a break and wasn't expecting him to miss two balls at the end of the match, so I was a little lucky."

Record

Roddick came out firing from the start of the match, finishing the first set in just the same way he had started it - with an ace. With the match just 20 minutes old, Agassi was staring a quick defeat in the eyes. But the 33-year-old American showed just why he will be the No. 1 in the world when the ATP Entry Rankings come out on Monday by clawing his way back into the match.

Despite Roddick equalling Greg Rusedski's world record with a 149 mph serve in the second game of the second set, Agassi proved why he's still the best returner around and still got it back in play. "It sounds like I got some kind of record too then," joked Agassi.

But he couldn't do much about the 16 aces Roddick hit during the second set, and Agassi had created just one break point on the Roddick serve going into the tie-break. However, he made the most of his opportunity when, at 5-5, a drop shot by Agassi set up the backhand pass for the mini-break, and he levelled the match at one set apiece with a service winner.

Frustration

In the final set, it was Agassi who got the break he wanted to lead 3-2 as Roddick took his frustration out on the rubbish bin at the change of ends. In the next game, a Roddick mis-hit was caught in the stands by none other than his coach Brad Gilbert, but a couple of loose points from Agassi handed the break straight back to Roddick. Although the young American came within two points of victory at 5-4, two service winners by Agassi kept Roddick at bay.

As the contest came down to the tie-break, both players traded mini-breaks in the first four points, before a forehand error by Roddick gave Agassi match point. But Roddick, a winner earlier this year on clay in St. Poelten, fired down another unreturnable serve and two mistakes by Agassi handed Roddick his place in the final.

Roddick added: "Brad [Gilbert] just told me to go for it. Even though he coached Andre for so long, it doesn't mean there's any holes in his game. You've still got to go out and beat one of the best players of all time, so there's no magic potion."

And on his record-equalling serve, he said: "I guess Greg's got some company. I didn't even notice, so that's a nice surprise. But the clock doesn't really matter. The best stat is how many times you hold serve."

Disappointing

For Agassi, it was a disappointing end to what had been a great week for him. "I was pretty fortunate to even have a chance of winning today with the way he was serving and with the way I was striking the ball," said Agassi. "I felt like I deserved to lose that match and yet I still had some chances, so that's a positive.

"He did what he needed to do and I give him credit for that. He has a lot of firepower and he has a real nice game. But I'm hoping for a lot more from myself and I'm looking forward to the challenge."

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