Roddick rolls into semi-finals

Top-seed Andy Roddick rolled to another straight-sets victory yesterday to secure a spot in the semi-finals of the International Raiffeisen Grand Prix.

Roddick won eight of the final nine games en route to a 7-5 6-1 victory over former Wimbledon champion Richard Krajicek of the Netherlands in this claycourt event.

“In the second set I played solid, clean tennis,” Roddick said.

“I had my chances and I took advantage of them, that’s the difference between average tennis and good tennis. I’m happy to be in the semi-finals here. Until now, I hadn’t won two matches in a row on the clay here in Europe, so this has been a good week.”

The 20-year-old Roddick lost in the final of the US Men’s Clay Court Championship last month, but was eliminated in the second round at the Rome Masters and Hamburg Masters.

The sixth seed at next week’s French Open, Roddick takes on eighth-seeded David Sanchez of Spain in the semi-finals.

Sanchez, who won a title on clay at Vina del Mar, Chile in February, coasted to a 6-1 6-4 win over 19-year-old Croatian Mario Ancic.