Murray hurries into grasscourt final

By Pritha Sarkar

LONDON (Reuters) - Andy Roddick's hopes of a fifth Queen's Club title ended painfully on Saturday when the American limped out midway through the first set of his all-American semi-final against James Blake with a right ankle injury.

Roddick's injury setback, nine days before Wimbledon, handed Blake a final showdown with Andy Murray.

The top seed stood one match away from his first grasscourt title after hustling past Spain's Juan Carlos Ferrero 6-2 6-4.

Second seed Roddick had high hopes of facing Murray on Sunday but it all went wrong in the final point of the third game against Blake.

Stranded at the net, Roddick quickly turned around to chase down a Blake lob and hit the ball between his legs.

He even laughed when his effort failed to win him the point but absent-mindedly continued to walk towards the back of the court and sprained his ankle between the raised border of the grass surface and the concrete surround.

The American winced and then opted to test his ankle by applying pressure to it before resuming the contest.

After Blake held for a 4-3 lead, Roddick took a medical time out to have the ankle strapped but he continued to shake his head as he put his shoes back on.