Wimbledon Semi Finals

Wimbledon semifinal by tearing through Juan Carlos Ferrero, 7-5, 6-3, 6-2. "I'm just going to pretend, when they say, 'Come on Andy,' they mean me," Roddick said. As Murray bids to become the first male British Wimbledon finalist since 1938 and its first champion since 1936, his support on Centre Court will boom, but so will the serves of an opponent who reached the Wimbledon finals in 2004 and 2005, losing both times to Roger Federer, who just qualified for his record 21st straight Grand Slam semifinal with a masterful 6-3, 7-5, 7-6 (3) win over Ivo Karlovic.

Almost certainly before Roddick and Murray get going on Friday, Federer will oppose the 31-year-old Tommy Haas -- who beat No. 4 Novak Djokovic on grass for the second time this summer, 7-5, 7-6 (6), 4-6, 6-3, and found his fourth Grand Slam semifinal but first in the Northern Hemisphere -- yet, oddly, for a five-time champion such as Federer, all the pre-Friday noise will steer elsewhere. It will go toward Murray as it has all fortnight, but it will go also to the 26-year-old veteran Roddick: the serve Stefanki calls the best in the game, the tete-a-tete against one of the game's best returners, and Roddick's very presence, a berth which brought him relief.

Since losing to Federer in three sets in the 2005 final, he had agonized through bleak and dour Wimbledons. Seeded No. 3 in 2006, he found Murray in the third round, took a 7-6 (4), 6-4, 6-4 defeat and bemoaned the slowing of the All England Club grass courts. Seeded No. 3 in 2007, he reached the quarterfinals and led by two sets, but saw Richard Gasquet of France hit a stunning 93 winners and appeared crushed. Seeded No. 6 in 2008, he lost in the second round to Janko Tipsarevic of Serbia in four sets and sounded distraught. "You know, when you've seen the Rolling Stones from the front row, and then all of a sudden you're like, seven or eight rows back . . . " he said then.