LONDON, 13 June 2004 — Top seed Andy Roddick won an explosive showdown with three-times former winner Lleyton Hewitt 7-6, 6-3 yesterday to hurtle into the final of the Stella Artois Championships.

In a repeat of last year’s final, the American champion will meet France’s Sebastien Grosjean, who ended the run of South Korean qualifier Lee Hyung-taik 6-7, 7-6, 6-2.

“It feels like deja vu I guess,” Roddick said after setting up the re-match with fifth seed Grosjean.

“He’s a very dangerous player and there’s not a whole lot he doesn’t do well. There are no glaring holes in his game.”

Roddick twice equaled his own service record, set during Friday’s quarterfinals, with 153-mph (246.2-kph) deliveries as he fired his 13th and 15th aces of the match past Hewitt in the second set.

Australian Hewitt, who had won all three of the duo’s previous three meetings, should have captured the first set as he attempted to serve for it at 5-4, having broken Roddick in the fifth game.

However, he failed to hang on to the advantage and let a setpoint slip from his grasp in the tiebreak.

Roddick kept up the pressure from the baseline and bagged the breaker 9-7 after forcing his opponent to miscue a service return.

Hewitt’s last victory over Roddick had been in the 2001 US Open quarterfinals and the sixth seed was well aware that he was facing a different kind of opponent yesterday.

In the second set, Hewitt wilted under the barrage of shots as Roddick took his ace tally to 15 and easily outclassed the player who had won a hat trick of titles here between 2000-2002.

A double fault on match point summed up Hewitt’s miserable day as he bowed out after 74 minutes.

Grosjean had not dropped a set in the tournament before running into Lee and was clearly relieved to have staged a comeback after finding himself a set and 4-1 down yesterday. Grosjean dominated much of the first set but, after he had dropped just two points in his first four service games, his game disintegrated when he attempted to serve for the set at 5-4.

With dark clouds hovering over center court, Lee displayed his unwavering nerve and pounced on his opponent to break for 5-5 with a stinging forehand crosscourt winner.

Sharapova and Golovin Set for All-Teen Final

In Birmingham, teenagers Maria Sharapova and Tatiana Golovin are set for battle in today’s DFS Classic final here after the Russian-born players advanced in three sets from their respective semifinals.

Sharapova, 17, ousted second seed Patty Schnyder 6-1, 6-7 (3-7), 6-3 to book her first final spot in the pre-Wimbledon tournament, while 16-year-old Golovin won a bad tempered all-French clash with eighth seed Emilie Loit.

Golovin, who broken into the world’s top 50 just five months after her 16th birthday, won 6-3, 5-7, 7-5 in a marathon match marked by allegations of gamesmanship.

Loit received an official warning for swearing at the umpire in the second set and twice more complained about line calls, going down on bended knee in an unsuccessful plea to the baseline judge.

Bidding for her first title, Golovin, takes on world No. 15 Sharapova, who already holds two — Tokyo and Quebec City last year.

Schnyder fought back to force Sharapova into a third set for the first time this week after the Russian served for the match at 6-5 in the second.