Roddick blasts past Schalken

Andy Roddick fired the fastest serve ever seen at Wimbledon as he battled past Holland’s Sjeng Schalken into the semi-finals.

Roddick blasted a 146mph ace, one of 18 in the match, on his way to a hard-fought 7-6 7-6 6-3 victory on court one.

That was two miles an hour quicker than recorded by Taylor Dent, the man he beat in the third round here, in 2001, but still some way short of his record of 153mph set in the Stella Artois Championships a fortnight ago.

The US Open champion will now meet Croatia’s Mario Ancic in the last four, a player he beat in three sets in the second round at Queen’s on the way to retaining his title.

The second seed was only able to force one break point in the opening set – a set point in the 12th game – but Schalken held on to force a tie-break.

The Dutchman took the early initiative courtesy of a Roddick double fault but squandered it with a backhand into the net as Roddick scrambled to regain his footing on the baseline.

Roddick took full advantage and twice forced Schalken to miss volleys on his rare forays into the net, taking it 7-4 to edge in front.

It was the third time in the last four Grand Slam events Roddick and Schalken had faced each other, Roddick winning both times in straight sets, and their last off-court meeting was considerably more dramatic.

The pair were among 30 players who escaped from a hotel fire at this year’s Rome Masters in May, Schalken and his wife Ricky forced to jump from their seventh-floor balcony to the one below outside Roddick’s room.

Both players had spoken of the special bond they now shared, but both were equally adamant they would be entirely focused on trying to reach the last four today.

Roddick had yet to lose a set in four matches, all of which had taken less than two hours, but Schalken was proving a stubborn and awkward opponent, Roddick screaming ’hit the ball in’ after being forced into another frustrating error.

The players were then locked at 5-5 on a fourth deuce when play was suspended due to the first forecast shower of the day arriving.

On the resumption of play Roddick had an immediate chance to break when a Schalken backhand which looked to hit the line was called out, but justice was done when he took the next three points to hold serve.

Roddick did likewise to bring up a second tie-break in which he was always trailing until the vital moment.

Schalken held three set points but crucially failed to convert the only one on his serve, Roddick eventually forcing a rare backhand error from his opponent to take it 11-9 for a two sets to love lead.

Schalken could count himself unfortunate to be two sets down and had a chance to do something about in the opening game of the third set.

The 27-year-old 12th seed, who was in his third consecutive Wimbledon quarter-final, held two break points on Roddick’s serve but was unable to convert either of them, and then held to love before another break for rain.

Schalken’s one-handed backhand is one of his most potent weapons but it proved to be his undoing when the players returned from the rain break.

Already down 15-30, Schalken sent a backhand flying over the baseline to give Roddick two break points, and the US Open champion accepted with alacrity, whipping a forehand winner down the line.

That was essentially a match point given Roddick’s awesome serve and he duly wrapped up a hard-fought victory in two hours and nine minutes, the first time he had been taken beyond two hours in five matches.