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The Honolulu Advertiser
Updated at 10:18 a.m., Thursday, January 29, 2009

Tennis: Federer beats Roddick to reach Aussie Open final

Associated Press

Hawaii news photo - The Honolulu Advertiser

Roger Federer celebrates after beating Andy Roddick in their men's singles semifinal match.

ROB GRIFFITH | Associated Press

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AUSTRALIAN OPEN AT A GLANCE

MELBOURNE, Australia — A look at Thursday's play at the Australian Open tennis championships:

WEATHER: Sunny, very hot, high of 112 degrees. The Extreme Heat Policy was in effect most of the day, forcing some matches on outside courts to be moved indoors; other outdoor matches to be postponed. The roof at Rod Laver Arena was closed for the women's semifinals, but when the temperature dropped by early evening, it was re-opened for the men's semifinal.

ATTENDANCE: Day: 10,487; Night: 14,877; Total: 25,364.

WINNERS: Semifinals: Men: No. 2 Roger Federer; Women: No. 2 Serena Williams. No. 3 Dinara Safina.

LOSERS: Men: No. 7 Andy Roddick; Women: No. 4 Elena Dementieva, No. 7 Vera Zvonareva.

STAT OF THE DAY: 1 — the top ranking in women's tennis will be on the line when Williams plays Safina in Saturday's final — the winner will take it.

QUOTE OF THE DAY: "Let's not kid ourselves. If you're down two sets to him, you're scraping, trying to survive." — Roddick on his straight-sets loss to Federer.

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MELBOURNE, Australia — Roger Federer moved within one victory of his 14th Grand Slam title with another dominating victory, ousting Andy Roddick 6-2, 7-5, 7-5 Thursday to reach the Australian Open final.

Roddick, who undertook a rigorous offseason training regime designed to help him beat Federer and top-ranked Rafael Nadal, was in good form.

But the second-ranked Federer outplayed him in every phase of the game. Ripping winners from all over the court and usually forcing Roddick to hit more than one good shot to win a point, he even had more aces than the hard-serving American, 16-8.

Federer, seeking his fourth Australian title, will face the winner of Friday's semifinal between Nadal and fellow Spaniard Fernando Verdasco.

By the time Federer and Roddick were on court in the evening, temperatures had dropped to 91 degrees from 112 in the afternoon — news reports called it Melbourne's hottest January day since 1939 — so the retractable roof was open.

That would seem to have given Roddick, who grew up in the heat of Texas and Florida, an edge. Against a hot Federer, it didn't matter. A behind-the-back hit right to the ballboy after a Roddick fault in the first game was a dead giveaway.

Although Roddick won their last meeting, Federer held a 15-2 edge over him coming into the match, and this one played out like many of the Swiss star's previous victories.

Blunting Roddick's blistering serves, Federer broke twice in the first set. Adding to Roddick's frustration was a call that went against him as Federer served at 4-1.

A Federer shot was called out, but he successfully challenged. Chair umpire Enric Molina ruled that Roddick couldn't have gotten to the ball and gave the point to Federer. Roddick argued he stopped running when he heard the "out" call, and he had a running dialogue with Molina during several changeovers.

With both players holding easily in the second set, a tiebreaker loomed with Roddick serving at 5-5. Federer broke at love, then easily held with Roddick failing to get a serve return back in play.

After serving a double-fault at 2-2 in the third set, Roddick got a warning for an audible obscenity and told Molina: "I take back the apology."

Roddick served again at 5-5 in the third set, and Federer — who seems to come up with his best tennis under pressure — broke again. He easily held, finishing off the match with a forehand down the line — his 51st winner to just 15 unforced errors.