LONDON, 18 June 2006 — James Blake ended the three-year Queen’s Club reign of Andy Roddick yesterday to announce himself as a surprise contender for Wimbledon.

Blake beat his fellow American 7-5, 6-4 to reach his first grasscourt final, where he will face another three-time former Stella Artois champion, Lleyton Hewitt.

Hewitt beat Tim Henman 6-3, 3-6, 6-2 in a controversial semifinal after which the Briton complained bitterly about the line calls.

Fifth seed Blake has slipped through the draw almost unnoticed and nobody has been more surprised at his progress than the 26-year-old New Yorker himself.

Hardcourt specialist Blake readily admits he is a stranger to grass. He has never been beyond round two at Wimbledon and had little expectations against Roddick, runner-up at the grasscourt Grand Slam for the last two years.

Roddick had also won all six of their previous encounters but Blake neutralized his world-record serve by stepping in early to hit his returns and outplayed the defending champion in the rallies.

Blake has reason to be confident in today’s final too. He beat Australian Hewitt on hardcourt to win the Las Vegas title in March.

Roddick said of Blake: “He returned unbelievable today. The way he was hitting the returns, it’s not like he was just making them, he was taking full cuts at my first serve which I don’t think I’ve ever had done to me before.”

Henman was incensed by the line-calling during his semifinal against Hewitt and called the supervisor on court to complain during the third set.

Hewitt, who won the Queen’s Club title in 2001, 2002 and 2003, kept his cool and said: “I felt like I handled the situation pretty well. I’m just happy to get through to another final at Queen’s.”

Hewitt beat Henman in the 2001 and 2002 finals at Queen’s, although both have slipped down the rankings since then — Hewitt to 13 and Henman to 76.

A single break proved enough to secured Hewitt the first set and Henman responded in kind to take the second.

In the third set, the four-time Wimbledon semifinalist immediately broke Hewitt to love but lost his serve at 2-1 when a forehand was called out, despite television replays suggesting it had clipped the line.

Henman screamed “No!” in fury and summoned the supervisor to complain in the changeover at 2-3. It did him no good and the Briton subsided meekly, sending a forehand half-volley long on match point to end an encouraging week on a sour note. “The line calling was appalling today,” said Henman but he admitted: “I don’t think I handled it particularly well.” Hewitt will attempt to emulate Boris Becker and John McEnroe today by winning his fourth Queen’s Club title.

Federer Edges Into Halle Final

In Halle, Germany, triple defending champion Roger Federer clinched his 40th consecutive grass court win on Saturday beating Germany’s Tommy Haas 6-4, 6-7 (4-7), 6-3 to reach the Halle final.

The world No. 1 will equal Bjorn Borg’s all-time record of 41 set between 1976 and 1981 if he beats fifth-seed Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic in today’s final.

Victory will also give the 24-year-old a third title in a row here as he sets his sights on the defense of his Wimbledon crown.

The world No.1 will meet familiar foe Berdych in today’s final.

The 20-year-old Czech reached his first final in the season by dismissing Belgium’s Kristof Vliegen 6-3, 6-2.

Federer holds a 2-1 edge over Berdych in their head-to-head meetings.

Jackson Stuns Sharapova to Reach Final

In London, unseeded American Jamea Jackson beat defending champion Maria Sharapova 6-4, 6-4 yesterday to become a surprise finalist at the Birmingham Classic tennis.

Jackson’s victory ended the Russian’s bid for a third straight title at the Wimbledon warm-up event and was her first win over the 2004 Wimbledon champion after two previous defeats.

In today’s final the 81st-ranked Jackson will face Russian Vera Zvonareva, who defeated Meilen Tu of the United States 5-7, 6-4, 6-3 in the other semifinal.