Most people undermined Andy Roddick's chances at defeating an in-form Rafael Nadal in their semifinal match at the Sony Ericsson Open on Friday, but the American rallied to pull of the 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 victory. Roddick began the match playing a passive brand of tennis, a strategy ill-advised when facing Rafa. But once the Spaniard took the 1st set, Andy kicked it into high gear, coming to the net at every opportunity behind monster forehands, and sometimes when it wasn't the best idea. The momentum shifted when Roddick won the last 11 points of the second set, finishing off the streak with a 143-mph service winner. “I took a lot of risks there in the last two sets,” Roddick, who won 12 points at the net in the deciding set, said. “I rolled the dice a lot and came up Yahtzee a couple times.”
Roddick's opponent in the championship match will be the Ivan Ljubicic of the tournament, Czech Tomas Berdych, who steamrolled Robin Soderling 2 and 2 in Friday's second semi. Berdych serve was on fire, as he faced just one break point while managing to break his opponent's serve four times.
Berdych, the 16th seed, has played just one other Masters final in his career, back in 2005 when he triumphed in Paris.
"You feel well on the court and build your confidence—that’s what’s happening,” Berdych, who beat Roger Federer in the 4th round, said. “It’s small things put together, and that makes a pretty good game for me.”
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