Roddick Into Toronto Semis

Roddick moves closer to a possible showdown with Federer after defeating Jan Hernych, a qualifier from the Czech Republic, 6-4, 6-2.

Hernych hasn”t been a slouch through out the tournament either. Just last night he sent home Gustavo Kuerten. But in his opening service game against Andy Roddick tonight, he faced a break point. Showing the resilience that has sustained him through both the qualifying round as well as three main draw matches, Hernych held to open the first set.

Both men continued to hold serve, but at 2-2, Hernych let a 40-0 lead slip away as Roddick tried to overpower him from the baseline, but like a backboard, every shot Roddick hit seemed to come back from Hernch’s end, allowing the Czech to hold after being on the brink of being broken. In the seventh game of the set, Roddick went up triple break point before Hernych erased two of them with a winner and an ace, but ended up giving Roddick the gift with an error off of his racquet.

The first set ended on Roddick’s serve, but at 40-30, he double faulted on set point, sending the game to deuce. A well-set-up point and an inside-out forehand gave the No. 2 seed another set point, but his twelfth unforced error kept Hernych alive.

Roddick missed several first serves in the game, but eventually showed why he is one of the best in the sport by holding regardless of his troubles.

That lone break proved to be costly for Hernych, who eventually lost the set 6-4.

The second set remained equally competitive with both players holding serve until Roddick was able to break on an advantage point in the fifth game to take a 3-2 lead. It was not unreasonable to assume that history would repeat itself in the second set, sending Roddick to his third consecutive semifinal in at the TMS Canada, where he is a two-time finalist and the current defending champion.

Hernych was broken again in his next service game, giving his opponent a 5-2 lead with the match on Roddick’s racquet, not a great prospect given the American’s service reputation.

At a blink of an eye, and with a couple of aces, Roddick reached triple set point, and with a backhand volley down the line, he joined Roger Federer and Thomas Johansson as the third semifinalist at the TMS Canada. With the win, Roddick improves his record in Canada to 18-2. When asked about his luck in the land of the Maple leaf, he commented, “Yea I should come up here more often.”