Roddick shakes off Hewitt in desperate dogfight

By Martyn Herman

LONDON (Reuters) - When weary American Andy Roddick finally walked out of the All England Club on Wednesday, he could be excused a quick glance down to check whether Lleyton Hewitt was still attached to his leg.

The 26-year-old pelted Hewitt with 43 aces and spent almost four hours trying to shake off the Australian terrier before eventually extricating himself long enough to claim a 6-3 6-7 7-6 4-6 6-4 victory in an outstanding Wimbledon quarter-final.

"It was tough from a mental standpoint because Lleyton wasn't going away," Roddick, who levelled their career series at 6-6, told reporters.

"Not pulling out that second set breaker was huge. At that point I was odds on and instead, it's a one-point difference and it's a battle. The fifth set was a dogfight."

Hewitt, the 2002 champion here, stole the second set after saving three set points but was staggering after losing the third, clearly in discomfort with a thigh injury that flared up during his five-set defeat of Radek Stepanek on Monday.

However, lying down like a faithful old labrador is not in his DNA and he was soon snapping back at Roddick's heels in the fourth as the crowd willed him to take it to a decider.

He duly obliged, swiping a clean winner past Roddick in the 10th game and then forcing his opponent to slice a backhand wide as the shadows overtook Court One.

There was barely a cigarette paper between the two former world number ones in the final set as they slugged it out like a couple of old prizefighters. Roddick flinched at 1-2, fending off three break points as Hewitt sensed an improbable winner.