With Andy Roddick hitting the ball beautifully in the Centre Court sunshine, Andy Murray resorted to hitting his fists against his strings in frustration at how the match was playing out as his Wimbledon ended in the semi-finals.
So Bunny Austin, a finalist in 1938, remains the last Briton to have featured in a title match on the grass of the All England Club.
Murray joined Mike Sangster, Roger Taylor and Tim Henman on the list of British players to have reached the semi-finals here, but to have gone no further. British men in Wimbledon semi-finals are now on a nine-match losing streak. The expected mistakes from Roddick’s racket never came. For the British tennis public, the wrong Andy went through into the final.
Roddick’s strings had one use out there on the grass; to play excellent tennis. Murray occasionally biffed and bashed his hand against his strings when events turned against him. Nothing much worked out for him on his first appearance in a Wimbledon semi-final – he was falsely accused of swearing by the umpire, and received a warning for “an audible obscenity”, even though the 22 year-old’s language was as clean as the dialogue from Little House on the Prairie.
The semi-final should be remembered for a smart, controlled, powerful performance from Roddick, which included some of the best tennis he has ever played on the lawns of London. So, instead of Murray going through to a first Wimbledon final, to play Roger Federer for the Challenge Cup on Sunday afternoon, it was Roddick who made the second weekend at the grass-court grand slam for the third time, as he won 6-4, 4-6, 7-6, 7-6.
Roddick was the runner-up to Federer on Centre Court in 2004 and 2005, and he has lost 18 of their 20 career meetings. Even so, if he can play as well against Federer as he did against Murray, there is still a possibility that he can win the second slam title of his career, six years after his first at the 2003 US Open. This plainly is not the end of Murray’s Wimbledon story: he is going to be back at this stage again, deep in the draw.
The received wisdom on Roddick is that he views a tennis racket as a piece of military hardware – the American’s game is built around welting a serve and a forehand. Yet he showed that he is also capable of playing with touch and intelligence, of playing high IQ tennis.
Perhaps the most surprising element of Roddick’s performance, and certainly the most impressive, was that he demonstrated that he could volley with poise and with purpose. To think that there was once a time when he appeared so awkward in the service boxes that he might as well have been volleying while wearing a pair of oven gloves. That wasn’t the case on Friday. There were also some impressive dinks and drop shots from the American.
When Henman played in his four semi-finals at Wimbledon, the British tennis public hoped rather then expected. On Centre Court yesterday it felt as though Murray’s racket bag and his bespoke white leather Fred Perry man bag were loaded with a great deal of expectation from those on Centre Court, those watching on Henman Hill, and from those viewing on television in the shires.
Few had imagined that Roddick would play so well. Perhaps even he had never imagined he would be this good. Murray kept on waiting for Roddick’s mistakes. They never came. So Murray’s attempt to become the first British finalist since Austin, and to then go on to become the first home champion since Fred Perry in 1936, ended in a four-set defeat. Murray held a point in the third-set tie-break to go two sets to one up, but it was the world No 6 from the United States who triumphed.
Early on, it became clear just how fast the conditions were out there in the sunshine, as Roddick struck a 143 mph serve, the quickest delivery anyone has hit all fortnight. The opening set was on serve for the first nine games, Roddick breaking in the 10th game. Both players went off for a bathroom break, and it was a determined Murray who resumed, immediately breaking in the opening game of the second set. That was the only break that he needed to draw level at a set each.
Roddick was broken as he served for the third set at 5-3. The set ended up being decided on a tie-break. Roddick saved Murray’s set point at 6-5 with a shaky volley that did not make clean contact with the strings. Murray then saved Roddick’s set point with a forehand winner, making it 7-7.
Then, though, Murray mistimed a forehand, the ball looping beyond the baseline. So Roddick was 8-7 up. It quickly became 9-7 when Murray couldn’t get his forehand up over the net. The fourth set also went to a tie-break. Roddick had a first match point at 6-4. Murray responded with a fabulous backhand winner. But, with Murray serving at 5-6, on Roddick’s second match point, he put a backhand into the net.
Roddick curled up into a ball on the grass.
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