Associated Press
MELBOURNE, Australia ó Andy Roddick was right there when Pete Sampras won his 14th Grand Slam title. And he was right there again when Roger Federer moved within one victory of matching Sampras’ record.
After a scorching day in which temperatures hit 111 degrees, Federer beat Roddick 6-2, 7-5, 7-5 in more manageable 91-degree heat Thursday night in the Australian Open semifinals.
The Swiss star will be playing in his 18th Grand Slam final but won’t know his opponent until Friday night, when Spanish left-handers Rafael Nadal and Fernando Verdasco meet in the other semifinal.
Federer will be going for a fourth Australian title. Serena Williams will be doing likewise, and also going for a 10th Grand Slam singles title. She ended the 15-match winning streak of Olympic champion Elena Dementieva, winning 6-3, 6-4 to set up a final against Olympic silver medalist Dinara Safina.
This was Federer’s seventh straight win over Roddick in a major and put his overall record in this matchup at 16-2. His loss to Roddick in Miami last year now seems like an aberration.
Roddick lost to Sampras in straight sets in the quarterfinals at the 2002 U.S. Open when he was a 20-year-old emerging talent. Sampras, then 31 and in his 52nd major, retired after beating Andre Agassi two matches later to win the U.S. Open.
Roddick held the No. 1 ranking in 2003. Federer was about to embark on an astonishing run.
“I think when Pete did it ó I was a part of that one, too ó everyone was saying how kind of lofty of an achievement it was,” Roddick said. “Little did we know (Federer) was going to start it the next year and go after it.”
Roddick is 26, just more than a year younger than Federer.
“It’s like my childhood was Pete, and now it’s kind of my grown life is Roger,” he said.