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4 months ago 03rd Jul 21:44
The seventy one year wait for a British man to win the title at Wimbledon will have to wait another twelve months as Andy Murray crashed out of the tournament at the semi final stage to Andy Roddick.
Despite waving away the tension history was very much weighing on the shoulders of the twenty two year old as he tried to become the first man since Bunny Austin to reach the final.
It was a match that was very much about the serve as the pair went toe to toe in the first set but the first real chance came in game ten as Murray was serving to stay in the set.
Roddick’s groundstrokes were near perfection as he had Murray scrambling all over the court as he broke to take the lead.
But with the crowd on his side Murray steadied himself to break Roddick in the opening game of the second set, holding his own serve to take a 2-0 lead. And that one break proved to be enough for the Scot as he levelled the match.
It seemed that the momentum was with Murray as he had three more break points in the opening service game of the third set, but he was unable to convert any of them. In a game that swing back and forward between the two men it looked like Roddick was once again in control as he broke Murray to take a 3-1 lead.
Being accused of swearing by the umpire seemed to be just the ammunition that Murray needed to dig his heels in and fight. And his patience was rewarded as Roddick faltered as he was serving for the set.
Murray swooped in to get back the break and we were once again all square at 6-6 and going into a tie-break.
The crowd were well and truly on his side as they tried to lift Murray by chanting his name and it seemed to work as he faced a set point at 6-5, only for Roddick to snuff out the chance with another great volley.
It was Murray’s chance to save a set point, which he did by sending a forehand screaming down the line for a winner. But his celebrations were short lived as he netted at 8-7 to give the American the lead.
The fourth set was a titanic struggle between these two men as they both struggled to break though each other’s serve sending the set into another tie break.
Roddick served brilliantly in the tie break Murray unable to get anything on it as he raced into a 5-2 lead.
Two confident points from Murray but him back in the tie-break at 5-4, a forehand from the Brit gave him some hope,
But the final two points came on Roddick’s serve but another brilliant forehand from Murray kept him in the contest at 6-5.
However the joy didn’t last long as he sealed the match on the very next point as Murray netted to hand Roddick the victory 6-4 4-6 7-6 (9-7) 7-6 (7-5).
But you had to hand it to Andy Roddick who produced some of his best tennis in recent years to make it to his third Wimbledon final. Since teaming up with coach Larry Stefanki Roddick has become a leaner athlete who has gone on a real run of form in recent weeks.
It was the American’s serve that was a really impressive weapon as he found 75% of his first serves in, which is an astonishing record.
But Roddick didn’t rely solely on his serve as his groundstrokes were also incredibly powerful and his serve and volleying had improved beyond recognition.
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