Andy Roddick hailed his epic 6-3, 6-7 (10/12), 7-6 (7/1), 4-6, 6-4 win over Lleyton Hewitt in the Wimbledon quarterfinals on Wednesday as one of the greatest triumphs of his career.

Roddick, seeded sixth, was on course for the last four when he broke in the fourth set after taking a two sets to one lead, but Hewitt defied a leg injury to send the match to a final set.

With the shadows lengthening on Court One, Roddick finally finished off the Australian after three hours and 50 minutes and will play third seed Andy Murray for a place in the final.

Asked if it rated near the top of his most importants wins, Roddick said: "Yeah, it certainly wasn't short on drama. It was tough from a mental standpoint because Lleyton wasn't going away and there were a lot of ebbs and flows to the match.

"The fifth set was a dogfight. I had to come up with probably the best half volley I've ever hit in my life to save breakpoint.

"It's a mixture of happiness and relief. In your mind you're kind of trying to stay the course for four hours, constantly figuring out what you're going to do.

"Your mind is just racing for four hours. So then it's just relief and happiness."

Roddick last reached the semifinals at the All England Club back in 2005 when he went on to suffer the second of two successive final defeats to Roger Federer.

The American hadn't been past the last eight at Wimbledon since that loss, but he finally ended that barren run after a heroic battle with 2002 champion Hewitt.

Hewitt admitted the leg injury had affected his ability to serve as the match wore on.

"My leg was a little bit sore, it was hard to push off when I served. That was the biggest issue, but I was still able to go five sets," he said.

"He is one of the great servers out there. You know you are going to get aced a lot and break points will go pretty quickly.

"It was a matter of trying to hang in there and I was nearly able to do it."

Hewitt had needed treatment for a thigh injury during his five-set victory over Radek Stepanek in the previous round and the Adelaide-born star looked tentative in the early stages.

Roddick took advantage as he broke in Hewitt's first service game. Hewitt found it impossible to dent Roddick's formidable serve and the American took the first set.

Hewitt broke to go 3-1 ahead in the second set before Roddick broke back to set up a dramatic tie-break.

The tension mounted as Hewitt saved two set points then got the decisive mini-break to draw level.

By midway through the third set, Roddick had served 26 aces and, with Hewitt's serve almost as impressive, the match was developing into a real slug-fest.

Another tie-break was needed and this time Roddick took control from the start to move ahead two sets to one.

When Roddick snatched an early lead in the fourth set it looked all over for Hewitt, but the Australian got a break back and then piled the pressure on Roddick, forcing enough miscues at 5-4 to level the match.

The final set was a test of endurance as much as skill. Hewitt seemed to be struggling with a recurrence of his leg injury, while Roddick became embroiled in a row with umpire Carlos Ramos over a disputed line-call.

Neither player was prepared to give an inch but Roddick finally broke at 5-4 and held serve to end a titanic struggle.

AFP

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