Wimbledon Capsules: Andy vs. Andy: Roddick faces Murray at Wimbledon

WIMBLEDON, England - The current edition of Wimbledon is the 23rd Grand Slam tournament since Andy Roddick won his lone major championship at the 2003 U.S. Open.

He badly wants to win a second.

It's why he changed coaches for this season. Slimmed down. Put in as much work as ever in practice, striving to improve his returns, his backhands, his volleys.

Add it all up, and the sixth-seeded American is back in the Wimbledon semifinals for the first time since 2005, facing No. 3-seeded Andy Murray of Britain on Friday. Roger Federer - seeking a sixth Wimbledon championship and record 15th Grand Slam title - faces No. 24 Tommy Haas of Germany in the other semifinal.

"Andymonium" has hit the All England Club, but don't think Roddick is happy merely to be a part of it.

"By no means is he satisfied, because the whole gig when he hired me is we've got to win a Slam," Roddick's coach, Larry Stefanki, said. "I said, ‘That's what I'm here for.' Winning a Slam is what it's all about. Coming in second is like kissing your sister. And he knows that he's already won one. Nothing is going to suffice. Even if you get to the final, it won't do."

Roddick's major title, not quite six years ago, was also the last at any Grand Slam event for an American man, the country's longest drought in the Open era, which began in 1968.

That wait must seem rather quaint to the folks around here.

Murray is trying to become the first British man to win Wimbledon since Fred Perry in 1936. No British man has won any Grand Slam championship since Perry at the U.S. Open later that year.

So the buzz builds with each victory by Murray. The 22-year-old from Scotland wrote on Twitter about the good-luck note he received from Queen Elizabeth II - everyone in Britain wants to know whether she'll show up in the Royal Box if Murray reaches Sunday's final - and the phone call he got from actor Sean Connery.

"It doesn't make any difference the way you perform, the hype. If you ... spend a lot of time reading the papers, watching everything on the TV, all the things that are getting said on the radio, then you get caught up in it," said Murray, the runner-up to Federer at last year's U.S. Open. "If you ignore it, you don't realize it's happening."

Murray is 6-2 against Roddick, including a lopsided victory in their most recent meeting, in the final of a hard-court tournament at Doha, Qatar, in January.

That was Stefanki's first tournament with Roddick and expects Friday's encounter to look different.

"It wasn't pretty. That tactic won't be used again. It was a very aggressive, offensive, bring-out-the-bugle-and-charge," Stefanki said. "And this guy is like (Mats) Wilander or (Bjorn) Borg - you give him a target and he's going to pass you, lob you, dink you, because he's a great mover off the ball."

This match could be decided by Roddick's serve against Murray's returns. Roddick pounded 43 aces past 2002 Wimbledon champion Lleyton Hewitt in Wednesday's quarterfinals, and he acknowledged that Murray is "certainly in the conversation among the best returners."

Roddick will have his new wife, his trainer and Stefanki in his corner Friday. Murray, meanwhile, will have roughly 15,000 supporters at Centre Court.

"It will certainly be something to remember. I think the crowd's going to be electric. I think it's going to be a great atmosphere, and one that I can certainly appreciate, even if it's not for me," Roddick said. "I'm just going to pretend when they say, ‘Come on, Andy!' that they mean me."

Murray was the only British man or woman to get past the second round in singles and will be playing in his first Wimbledon semifinal.

Federer will be attempting to get to a record seventh consecutive Wimbledon final and record 20th career Grand Slam final. His match against Haas is the Swiss star's 21st Grand Slam semifinal in a row, extending a record he already owned.

"The consistency, right there, in the big tournaments is ridiculous," Murray said. "You know, no one will ever match that, I don't think."

By winning the French Open last month, Federer completed a career Grand Slam and tied Pete Sampras with 14 major championships.

Sampras has not said whether he'll show up if Federer has a chance to break that tie Sunday. Past performances certainly indicate Federer should be there.

After all, he is 19-3 in Grand Slam semifinals, and Haas is 0-3. Plus, Federer leads Haas 9-2 head-to-head, including a big comeback June 1 in the fourth round of the French Open, where the German took the first two sets and was five points from victory.

Federer, of course, came back.

"I stayed calm and I knew that if the match was going to swing around that it was going to be really difficult for him. It's exactly what happened," Federer said. "But new match, new tournament. We'll see what happens." 

Serena, Venus reach Wimbledon final - again

WIMBLEDON, England - Richard Williams refuses to watch his daughters Venus and Serena play each other. Says he simply can't bear to see it, no matter the setting, no matter the stage.

So once again, the patriarch of the greatest sister act in tennis history is heading home to the United States before the Wimbledon final. That's because the women's singles championship at the All England Club is Venus Williams vs. Serena Williams for the second year in a row and fourth time overall.

The way the sisters won in Thursday's semifinals could hardly have been more different.

"Serena nearly gave me a heart attack," Dad said. "Venus played as if she had some place to go, and she was in a major league hurry to get a great dinner."

Serena went on Centre Court first and came within a point of losing to Beijing Olympics gold medalist Elena Dementieva before grunting and grinding her way to a 6-7 (4), 7-5, 8-6 victory that lasted 2 hours, 49 minutes - longer than any Wimbledon women's semifinal or final on record.

"Definitely one of my more dramatic victories," said Serena, who walloped a tournament-high 20 aces. "I felt like I was down pretty much the whole match."

Venus followed and dominated the No. 1-ranked woman, Dinara Safina, in an astonishingly easy 6-1, 6-0 win that took merely 51 minutes and equaled the most lopsided semifinal result here over the last 74 years.

"The score just showed my level of play," the third-seeded Venus said. "I was just dictating on every point."

In Saturday's final, Venus will be trying to win her sixth Wimbledon and eighth Grand Slam title. Serena will be trying to win her third Wimbledon and 11th Grand Slam title.

It's the eighth all-Williams major final (Serena leads 5-2) and their 21st meeting on tour (they're tied 10-all).

"The more we play, the better it gets. When we play our match on Saturday, it's for everything. This is what we dreamed of when we were growing up in Compton, 20-something years ago," Serena said. "This is what we worked for, and this is what we want. Like, I wanted her to win today, and she wanted me to win today."

Venus has won 20 consecutive matches at Wimbledon; if she makes that 21, she will become the first woman since Steffi Graf in 1991-93 to win the tournament three straight years. On Friday, the day before they face off for the singles title, the sisters will wake up at the house they're sharing during the tournament and head to the All England Club to play as a pair in the doubles semifinals, an event they won last year.

Richard Williams said Serena persuaded him to stick around for that doubles match. But he'll get on a plane Saturday, making sure to remind the pilots not to tell him who wins singles final. How will he find out which daughter is this year's Wimbledon champion?

Not from TV. Or the Internet. Or by checking their Twitter feeds.

No, he'll find out the way he does every time one of his kids claims a Grand Slam championship: He'll read the sign that his neighbors in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., always post on the gate of their house - "Congratulations, Venus!" or "Congratulations, Serena!"

"All I know," Dad said, "is a Williams is going to win."

Serena nearly didn't make it. Seeded second, she hadn't lost a set all tournament, yet found herself trailing the fourth-seeded Dementieva.

The Russian is often pointed to as the best player without a Grand Slam title - if it isn't her, it's probably Safina - and the biggest weakness in her game long has been her serve.

She double-faulted eight times, but there were moments when that stroke got her out of trouble, including a second-serve ace at 110 mph. Surprisingly, it was her normally sturdy groundstrokes that let Dementieva down. Of course, Serena had something to do with that.

Dementieva's match point came at 5-4 in the third set, with Serena serving at 30-40. Dementieva had a backhand passing shot set up and tried to hit the ball cross-court, but Serena hit a backhand volley that clipped the tape and landed in.

"The only regret I have - Maybe I should take a little bit more risk on match point, go down the line," Dementieva said.

It was one of dozens of spectacular points in a match filled with momentum swings and superb play. With the temperature hitting 90, Dementieva slathered white sunscreen on her face and behind her knees, and put a plastic bag of ice on her neck and armpits at changeovers. Both women took time to catch their breath after lengthy rallies.

The match might very well have hinged on a key point, when Dementieva led 4-3 in the second set and Serena double-faulted to 30-40. One more point, and Dementieva would serve for the match. But Serena hit a forehand winner that barely - we're talking less than a quarter-inch - landed on the chalk on a sideline. It was one of only seven forehand winners for Serena.

"My forehand didn't show up today. I think he went to Hawaii," she would say later, finally able to smile about it. "It's always good to win when one of your strokes is on vacation."

Her serve was most decidedly on the scene. Wimbledon's official statistics for aces date only to 2000 on all courts, and to 1995 on the show courts, and they show no woman hitting more than 19 in a match until Thursday.

"I wasn't sure if it's Serena or Andy Roddick on the other side," Dementieva said.

Serving for the second set at 6-5, Serena erased four break points - Dementieva blew one with a bad backhand - and had four aces in the game, including at 122 mph and 114 mph on the last two points.

There was still nearly an hour left to play, and at the end, Serena barely was better.

"That was intense. I mean, Dementieva was there mentally, physically," said the sisters' mother, Oracene Price, who helps Richard coach their daughters. "Serena was fortunate to get out of that one."

Coming off the court afterward, Serena said, "I'm going to come out and watch Venus and cheer her on and hope for the best."

Alas, she never made it to the Centre Court stands to support big sis. Venus was too dominant, and finished too quickly.

Here is all you need to know: Venus compiled 16 winners, one unforced error.

"She's just too good on grass," Safina said. "She gave me a pretty good lesson today."

Now two sisters who were taught the game by their parents will meet on tennis' most famous lawn one more time to settle a Wimbledon championship.

"We both play such a similar game," said the 29-year-old Venus, who is 15 months older than Serena. "I mean, we had the same teacher."

Serena beat Venus in the 2002-03 all-in-the-family finals at the All England Club; Venus won last year.

"Let's just say," Mom noted, "they take home all the money."

-- Howard Fendrich

Russians lose in Wimbledon semifinals

WIMBLEDON, England - One of the two Russian semifinalists at Wimbledon failed to convert a match point Thursday. The other struggled to even win a point in her match.

Neither will be playing in Saturday's final.

Elena Dementieva came close, though, getting within a point of beating one half of the Williams sisters, Serena, before losing 6-7 (4), 7-5, 8-6 on Centre Court.

"The only regret I have: Maybe I should take a little bit more risk on match point, should go down the line," said Dementieva, who led 5-4 in the third set but watched Serena return her passing attempt with a backhand volley winner. "I'm disappointed with the shot because I'm very surprised I didn't go down the line."

In the other semifinal, Venus Williams routed top-ranked Dinara Safina 6-1, 6-0, setting up a fourth Wimbledon final between the American sisters. Serena beat her older sibling to win the title at the All England Club in 2002 and ‘03, but Venus defeated her sister in last year's final to win her fifth Venus Rosewater Dish.

Serena nearly missed out on Saturday's Fourth of July party at the All England Club, but her serve came through even when her forehand wasn't working at its best.

"You know, I wasn't sure if it's Serena or Andy Roddick on the other side," Dementieva said of Serena's serve, which produced 20 aces in the match. "Even with that I was able to break her a couple of times and I was in the lead in the third set. Like I said, she's a fighter."

The match, pitting 10-time Grand Slam champion Serena against two-time major finalist Dementieva, produced some of the most exciting tennis of this year's tournament, though Serena was far from playing her most scintillating tennis.

"My forehand didn't show up today. I think (she) went to Hawaii," Serena said. "But I've called. ... Hopefully she'll be back."

Venus had a much easier time on Centre Court, winning the first nine points and saving the only break point she faced. Safina, who lost in the Australian Open and French Open finals this year, won only 20 points all match.

"She's just too good on grass," said Safina, who lost to Serena in the Australian Open final. "It's not my favorite surface and it's her favorite surface."

Safina is half of another successful sibling duo. She and older brother Marat Safin, a two-time Grand Slam champion, are the only brother-sister combination to have been ranked No. 1 in professional tennis.

Venus' win was the most lopsided women's Wimbledon semifinal result since Billie Jean King beat Rosie Casals by the same score in 1969.

"The score just showed my level of play," Venus said. "I was just dictating on every point."

That fact wasn't lost on the 23-year-old Russian.

"I think she gave me a pretty good lesson today," Safina said.

PATRIOTISM

Now that Serena and Venus Williams have earned their places in the Wimbledon final, they're rooting for another American to make the men's championship.

Andy Roddick of the United States plays Andy Murray of Britain on Friday for a spot in Sunday's final.

"Nothing against Andy Murray, but I'm just rooting for the American," Serena said after beating Elena Dementieva 6-7 (4), 7-5, 8-6. "I really, really want him to do well."

Roddick, who lost in the 2004 and ‘05 finals, is trying to become the first American man to win at the All England Club since Pete Sampras in 2000. Murray is looking to become the first British man to win the Wimbledon singles title since Fred Perry in 1936.

"I've been rooting for Andy so hard. Yesterday when he was playing Lleyton (Hewitt), I was screaming at the TV saying, ‘Come on!"' Serena said. "I think I startled people next to me."

Venus, who advanced to her fourth Wimbledon final against her younger sister by beating top-ranked Dinara Safina 6-1, 6-0, didn't want to even attempt to guess who would win the second semifinal on Centre Court.

"I just don't know. I just don't know," the five-time Wimbledon champion said. "You got to ask someone else."

TWO AND OUT

James Blake and Mardy Fish let a two-set lead squirm out of their grasp at Wimbledon on Thursday, missing out on their first Grand Slam final.

The unseeded American duo lost to defending doubles champions Daniel Nestor of Canada and Nenad Zimonjic of Serbia 5-7, 3-6, 6-2, 7-6 (3), 10-8 in the semifinals.

The second-seeded Nestor and Zimonjic will play top-seeded Bob and Mike Bryan in Saturday's final. The American twins beat Wesley Moodie of South Africa and Dick Norman of Belgium 7-6 (4), 7-6 (3), 6-4.

Bob and Mike Bryan, who have won every major title at least once, will be looking to win their eighth career Grand Slam doubles title in the Wimbledon final.

Nestor has won the doubles title at all four Grand Slam tournaments. He captured the 2002 Australian Open, 2007 French Open and 2004 U.S. Open with former partner Mark Knowles of the Bahamas. Last year's Wimbledon title is Zimonjic's only Grand Slam title.

-- Chris Lehourites

Wimbledon at a glance

WIMBLEDON, England - A look at Wimbledon on Thursday:

Weather: Mostly sunny, high of 90 degrees.

Attendance: 30,842, an increase of 1,227 from the second Thursday in 2008.

Women's Semifinals: No. 2 Serena Williams beat No. 4 Elena Dementieva 6-7 (4), 7-5, 8-6, No. 3 Venus Williams beat No. 1 Dinara Safina 6-1, 6-0.

Women's Final Saturday: Serena Williams vs. Venus Williams.

Stat of the Day: 20 - Number of points won by Safina; Venus Williams won 54.

Quote of the Day: "I don't necessarily want her to lose, but for sure I want me to win." - Venus Williams on facing younger sister Serena in a Wimbledon final for the fourth time.

On Court Friday: No. 2 Roger Federer vs. No. 24 Tommy Haas, No. 3 Andy Murray vs. No. 6 Andy Roddick in the men's semifinals.

Friday's Forecast: Partly cloudy, high of 79 degrees.

Friday's TV: ESPN2, 6 a.m. to 11 a.m.; NBC, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

On the Web: http://www.wimbledon.org

Elsewhere

Billie Jean King Cup returns to New York City

NEW YORK - Four top women's tennis players will again face off in a one-night tournament at Madison Square Garden for the Billie Jean King Cup.

Sponsor BNP Paribas announced Thursday that the event will be played March 1. Serena Williams won the inaugural title earlier this year with a 6-4, 6-3 victory over sister Venus. The field also included Ana Ivanovic and Jelena Jankovic.

The four 2009 Grand Slam winners will be invited to participate in next year's tournament. Serena Williams has already won the Australian Open and Svetlana Kuznetsova the French Open.

The event features a no-ad scoring, one-set semifinal and a best-of-three final.