KEY POINTS:
MELBOURNE - Former world No 1 Andy Roddick battered his former high school friend in just one hour and 27 minutes to reach the Australian Open semifinals last night.
Sixth seed Roddick made only four unforced errors to beat Mardy Fish 6-2, 6-2, 6-2 and advance to the
last four at Melbourne Park for the third time.
"I think Mardy might have been a little bit nervous at the beginning as he made a few errors he wouldn't normally make," said Roddick, "but I was happy with the way I played."
Roddick blasted through the first set in 29 minutes and the unseeded Fish, appearing in his first Grand Slam quarter-final, and who upset fourth seed Ivan Ljubicic in the first round, simply did not possess the attacking weapons to disrupt the rhythm of his Davis Cup teammate. The 25-year-old Fish broke back to 1-1 at the start of the second set but Roddick simply lifted his game, thundering down 10 aces and a blistering range of groundstrokes.
The former US Open champion broke serve seven times, racing through the final set and sealing victory on his first match point when Fish sent a return beyond the baseline.
Serena Williams needed every ounce of her competitive spirit to prevent Shahar Peer from crashing her comeback party.
Peer, 19, was already in uncharted territory for an Israeli woman by reaching the last eight of a Grand Slam and she had one foot in the semifinals until the seven-time major winner shut the door in her face.
Unseeded Williams, the champion at Melbourne Park in 2003 and 2005, won 3-6, 6-2, 8-6 in two hours and 34 minutes after Peer had come within two points of victory.
Showing the toughness one would expect from someone who started mandatory Army training in 2005, Peer dominated the match in the early stages but Williams looked the only winner at the death.
"I'm the ultimate competitor," Williams said.
"I love to compete, I always have even if I'm playing cards or signing autographs the quickest."
She now faces another formidable opponent in the last four after Nicole Vaidisova triumphed in the battle of the Czech teenagers.
The mature 17-year-old waltzed past fellow Czech Lucie Safarova 6-1, 6-4 to reach her second career Grand Slam semifinal.
It took just 71 minutes for her to beat the conqueror of defending champion Amelie Mauresmo.
Another success story from coach Nick Bollettieri's production line in Florida, Vaidisova was clearly impressed by one trait she picked up there - single-mindedness.
"Everywhere I go I have a Czech mind. It's not like when I got to Asia I try to change to my Asia mind, then use my Australia mind. I'm definitely influenced by America, but still keeping my one Czech mind."
- REUTERS