Andy Murray denied his dream

Andy Murray was brilliantly beaten today in the semi-finals of Wimbledon, going down 4-6 6-4 6-7 6-7 to an inspired Andy Roddick. Not many gave Roddick a realistic chance going into the match, but he played a brilliant game to break British hearts and continue the long, long wait for another British finalist at the All England Club.

With Murray’s serve outstanding in the main throughout this Wimbledon fortnight and with Roddick’s always nothing short of clinical, this had the potential to be an artillery battle. Indeed, Murray dialled in and sent down two aces at deuce in the second game to stave off an early Roddick advance. The talk pre-match centred on whether or not the American would stay patient in an attempt to avoid a repeat of the near-humiliation he received at Murray’s hands in the Doha final in January and there were signs that he was content to stay back and rally. This initially proved unsuccessful in Murray’s service games, but he was holding his own with relative comfort, thanks in no small part to that booming first delivery.

As for Murray, his own first serve was misfiring slightly at this early juncture, but his superior rallying ability was seeing him through. His famous backhand down the line was working well and produced several winners to keep the scoreboard ticking. With Murray serving at 4-5 down,however, Roddick employed that patient play to work some opportunities and force a set point, which he duly took with another long rally ending in a drop shot. The American was out to spoil the big British party and was a third of the way to doing it.

It was imperative that Murray got off to a good start in the second set and he instantly seemed to come to life, perhaps angered into action by Roddick’s insolence. Some trademark passing shots conjured up three break points in the first game, the first of which he took when Roddick dumped the ball into the net. A rise in the Scot’s first serve percentage was also important and three consecutive aces in the next game to move to 2-0 dealt with that. Murray was clearly pumped up now, drawing the crowd into the match with him – just a shame he couldn’t have been from the outset. That first serve, which makes a player’s life so much simpler when it can be landed with any great effect, was picking up and another simple hold made it 3-1.

As the set progressed, that break at the start was looking crucial from Murray’s point of view, as Roddick resumed normal service with more aces and unreturnables. Just when you didn’t want Murray to tighten up again, he threw in a double fault at 4-3 to take the game to deuce and offer Roddick the sight of a way back in. He held his nerve, however, to invite Roddick to pull the trigger, but the American fired the ball the wrong side of the line. A primeval roar greeted Roddick’s inability to return another big serve which Murray had dug out at the right time and the Briton was up to 5-3. A quick service game in response from Roddick put the pressure straight back on Murray to serve the set out, but he kept his cool to make it honours even.

The start of the third set was almost a carbon copy of the second, with Murray quickly creating three break points as Roddick’s serving level dipped. This time, however, Roddick saved them all with some clutch play and took it through deuce to hold. That looked as though it could be costly as Roddick got to 30-30 in the next game, but an ill-judged dropshot attempt eased the pressure and Murray held with a swashbuckling forehand winner into the open court. At 1-2 down, Murray’s first serve had gone AWOL again and Roddick crunched some second serves away to carve out two break points of his own. The Scot showed an iron will to snatch them away, the first with a beautiful lob on the run, before Roddick eked out another chance at deuce. That was cancelled out by a vital ace, challenged at first by Roddick, but another break point appeared as the Nebraskan looked to boss proceedings and steal a march at a crucial time in the match. That he did, as Murray finally went long.

Frustration was beginning to boil over and it was compounded when the umpire issued a warning for an apparent audible obscenity, a call that Murray strongly disputed. Roddick was looking in the zone and Murray’s fans were praying that their man could recapture his focus before it was too late, so a love service game to make it 4-2 was very welcome. Battling to deuce on Roddick’s serve, he raised hopes that he could break back, but Roddick simply served his way out of the trouble. Murray had to work hard again to hold at 2-5 down, with Roddick seemingly the only one with any real bite to his groundstrokes. With Roddick serving for the set, the time was right for a Murray push and it duly appeared, with one brilliant passing shot featured in a break to 15. Suddenly, the man from Dunblane was fired up again and the crowd bought into his new-found philosophy. The pressure was on Roddick now and he looked wobbly at 30-30 on his serve but, as is often the case, he threw down two aces to dash rising British hopes, temporarily at least.

Eventually, a nail-biting tiebreak ensued, one that was vital to the hopes of both men. Roddick grabbed the initial advantage to move to 2-1 on serve with a low shot that tempted Murray into an error, but that was snatched back brilliantly with a running forehand pass by Britain’s finest. The next few points swung back and forth as Roddick again edged ahead before being pegged back through his own error. Two aces took Murray to the brink of the set at 6-5, but Roddick cruelly deflated the Brits with a drop shot. A set point of Roddick’s own came and went as Murray wonderfully delivered a one-two punch, but a wild error gave the American another chance on his own serve. Finally, after a marathon set, Roddick clinched it as Murray netted with an attempted pass.

Murray was staring down the barrel and Britain’s hopes were lying in the gutter. The Scot required a monumental effort to win the final two sets and keep the dream alive. The Roddick train was held back at the start of the fourth as Murray held to 15, but the crowd were woefully quiet, devastated by the result of the previous set. The tense early games went with serve, with nothing more than either man each needing to negotiate deuce. Murray created a break point out of nowhere at 4-3 up, but Roddick yet again clinically averted the danger. The crowd bayed for a break as Murray led at 5-4 and 6-5, but Roddick’s unfaltering serve ensured another tiebreak. The American took the advantage in that by outrallying Murray, something which seemed so unnatural. Murray had to break back, but Roddick’s first serve, however, just would not fail and he took himself to the brink of the final with two match points. Murray wonderfully saved the first, but couldn’t save the second and his fate was sealed.

Roddick was nearly in tears at the end, so elated and disbelieving was he at having dumped out the British No. 1. He will go on to play five-time champion Roger Federer in the final on Sunday. As for Murray, he is not scheduled to play again until the Montreal Masters in August.