LONDON, 15 June 2003 — Andy Roddick ripped apart Andre Agassi’s baseline game and unloaded the fastest-ever serve yesterday to reach the final of the Stella Artois Championships.
Roddick had never beaten the newly-crowned world number one in four previous attempts but under a cloudless west London sky, he was irrepressible and triumphed 6-1, 6-7, 7-6.
He will face Sebastien Grosjean in today’s Queen’s Club final after the Frenchman brushed aside Britain’s Tim Henman 6-3, 6-4.
“You try to serve fast out there,” Roddick said, referring to the record 149 miles (239.8 km) per hour rocket he fired off in the second set.
“But not for the speed gun, to get it past the best returner of all time.
“It feels good to have won that. This week has been my best week for sure on grass.”
The week will end even better for Roddick if he can overcome Grosjean to win his first grasscourt title at the 800,000 Euro ($939,800) event.
Henman, a runner-up here three of the last four years, could find no penetration on his serve and his dreams of becoming king at Queen’s must wait another year.
However his performance here marks the first time in almost a year the Briton has won three matches in a row.
With second seed Agassi’s former coach Brad Gilbert watching his new young charge from the stands, Roddick started his match in explosive style.
On the very first point, the 20-year-old walloped a 139 miles (223.7 km) per hour ace past his fellow American — the first of 27 he hit during the match.
It was immediately clear Agassi would not be allowed to enjoy his latest stint as the oldest world number one — the 33-year-old secured the honour by winning his quarterfinal here on Friday.
Instead Roddick ran him ragged on the Queen’s Club grass court, pumping winners left, right and centre to reel off the first set in just 20 minutes.
In the second game of the second set, the courtside speed gun showed Roddick to have hit the fastest serve on record, a 149 miles (239.8 km) per hour thunderbolt equalling the record set by Britain’s Greg Rusedski in Indian Wells five years ago. Agassi did return it, though, and managed to crack a smile about it afterward.
Kiefer Rallies to
Reach Halle Final
In Halle, Germany, unseeded German Nicolas Kiefer produced a stirring comeback to beat Frenchman Arnaud Clement 4-6, 7-6, 6-4 and reach the Halle Open final for the second successive year yesterday.
World No. 73 Kiefer, runner-up to Yevgeny Kafelnikov last year, overcame an erratic start to triumph and set up a meeting with either top seed Roger Federer or Russia’s Mikhail Youzhny.
“This win is great for my confidence,” Kiefer said. “Of course, I was a little bit nervous at the end because I haven’t played many matches, but I played the important points really well.
“In my first (few) matches I was a little bit defensive but today I was much more aggressive and I’m very happy to win.”
The two hours 48 minutes contest ended on a dubious call as Clement’s forehand was called wide, but Kiefer had no doubts. “It was out, only two centimeters out, but out,” said the German.
