NEW YORK - Andy Roddick has booked himself a place in the US Open semifinals with an emphatic 6-3, 7-5, 6-4 win over Australian Lleyton Hewitt.
Roddick, the 2003 champion, will play unseeded Russian Mikhail Youzhny, who shocked second seed Rafael Nadal 6-3, 5-7, 7-6, 6-1.
Youzhny's win denied New
Yorkers the chance of a third straight Grand Slam final between the Spaniard and Swiss maestro Roger Federer.
Top seed and world No 1 Federer held up his side of the bargain with a 6-3, 7-6, 6-3 fourth-round victory over 79th-ranked Marc Gicquel, of France.
Youzhny, ranked 54, continuously hit out from both wings, putting Nadal on the defensive and setting up angles for winners.
He found the mark with amazing consistency, cracking 49 winners against just 23 for Nadal, who lost a golden chance to seize the edge in the third set before being trampled in the finishing set.
"It was a very tough match," Youzhny said after his three-hour 16-minute victory. "I can't believe I beat Rafael in four sets."
"I think it was one of the best matches in my career."
Nadal said he had played his best tennis of the tournament despite falling to the Russian.
"Maybe I play my best match in New York here today," Nadal said. "My best tennis. Youzhny was playing unbelievable tennis."
Federer took his next step toward claiming a third straight US Open title by joining women's top seed Amelie Mauresmo in posting straight-sets wins at Flushing Meadows.
The top seed blasted 15 aces and had 42 winners in his win, but Gicquel produced a respectable showing by committing only 22 unforced errors, seven fewer than the Swiss.
Federer will play fifth-seeded American James Blake, a 6-4, 6-3, 6-1 winner against 12th seed Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic.
Maria Sharapova, the 2004 Wimbledon champion, was pushed to two tiebreakers before beating 18-year-old Tatiana Golovin 7-6, 7-6 to advance to the semifinals against Australian Open and Wimbledon champion Mauresmo, who dismissed Russian Dinara Safina 6-2, 6-3.
"It's good to be able to be in control, feel good on the court, and really get a good rhythm," Mauresmo said after the 62-minute affair.
Second seed Justine Henin-Hardenne set up a semifinal match against Serbian Jelena Jankovic by battling past Lindsay Davenport 6-4, 6-4 in a battle of former champions.
Open semis
Andy Roddick v Mikhail Youzhny
Amelie Mauresmo v Maria Sharapova
Justine Henin-Hardenne v Jelena Jankovic
- REUTERS
NEW YORK - Andy Roddick has booked himself a place in the US Open semifinals with an emphatic 6-3, 7-5, 6-4 win over Australian Lleyton Hewitt.
Roddick, the 2003 champion, will play unseeded Russian Mikhail Youzhny, who shocked second seed Rafael Nadal 6-3, 5-7, 7-6, 6-1.
Youzhny's win denied New
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