Roddick Ancestors Feel Beating; Serena, Sharapova in Final

"I made more errors than I should have in the first. After that, there's no doubt he was coming up with some shots tonight," an unhappy ready-to-explode Roddick told reporters. "You do your best not to get discouraged. You try to take it like a man. I caught an absolute beating tonight. There's no doubt about it. There's no two ways about it. You deal with it and you go back to the drawing board. You act like a professional, and you try to keep working hard."

Roddick's favorite question of the post-match conference was how much would he have paid not to face the press afterwards.

"That's about the best question that's been asked," Roddick said. "Well, I mean, I can't really say an amount because I would have gotten fined, what, 20 grand. Obviously, it would have to be less than that, right, if we're thinking logically? It really wouldn't be about the money; it would be about running away and not facing it. I would pay a lot of money if everyone would just make up stuff that I said and pretend like I was actually here. That would be fine. My dad didn't raise me to run away from it, so here I am."

Federer for his part wouldn't say it's the best he's ever played.

"Big occasion, I played incredible today," the Swiss said. "I'm so happy. Second set was definitely incredible. I mean, I've had a few good ones at the US Open against Lleyton [Hewitt] and other players. But it's incredible to do it against a top guy, you know, on a big court on a big occasion. Against players like him, I always enjoy playing. Not just because I've been winning, but, I mean, I know how close he was at the US Open and Shanghai. He played well in Kooyong, too. We practiced here. He beat me in practice here."

At one point the Swiss won 13 points in a row, and 16 of 17 during a stretch. Federer, who has set an Open Era-record seven consecutive appearances in Grand Slam finals and has now matches his personal best of 35 match wins in a row stretching from last year, touched on the topic of himself as the GOAT (greatest of all time).

"Let's wait and see. I'm definitely on the right track. I'm not injured. I'm playing well. I'm in another finals," the Swiss said. "Yeah, maybe people haven't seen a guy play like I have, and that gives me a lot of compliments. That's beautiful, you know. But I got to do it over and over again, you know, for another five years or so. That's the tough part."
 
German Tommy Haas and Chile's Fernando Gonzalez will battle Friday for the right to face Federer in the final.

"Maybe I'm playing the best tennis of my career at this time," said Gonzalez, who has defeated the world No. 2 and 3 players in Rafael Nadal and Nikolay Davydenko respectively. "I hope to continue because I feel really, really good at the court. I feel that I can make many good things."

Serena Williams, Sharapova Reach Aussie Open Final

The rivalry between world No. 1 newcomer-teen Maria Sharapova and comeback-trail veteran and former No. 1 Serena Williams will continue in the final of the Australian Open as both players advanced to the championship round Thursday with straight-set victories.

Sharapova ended the hopes of No. 4 seed Kim Clijsters, participating in her last Australian Open before retirement, 6-4, 6-2. Williams had a much tougher time with No. 10 seed Nicole Vaidisova, edging the Czech teen 7-6(5), 6-4.

"I have mixed feelings at the moment, it's not really sinking in yet," Clijsters said after being overpowered by the Russian. "Straight after the match you are disappointed with having lost and you are not really thinking about everything else. I will come back tomorrow and take my time saying goodbye to everyone. There are a lot of people I want to talk to face to face, people that work here and people I want to keep in touch with. I have so many great memories from my times in Australia, not just tennis wise but also all the friends I have made."

Clijsters converted on just two of 12 break point opportunities, helping Sharapova into her first Australian Open final.

Vaidisova served unsuccessfully for the first set against Williams, who reveled in taking on detractors who said she came into the Australian Open unfit.

"The other thing I love apart from winning is to prove people wrong," Williams said. "I love doubters and I have had a lot of people doubting me. But I always feel mentally strong and I am probably mentally stronger than a lot of players on the tour...I wouldn't say it's an astonishing achievement because it's where I expect to be."

The Serena-Sharapova rivalry stands at two matches each, with Serena winning their most recent meeting in the 2005 Aussie Open semifinals where the Russian failed to convert on three match points. Their previous meeting months earlier was another contentious affair at the 2004 year-end Tour Championships, with Williams leading 4-0 in the third set with an abdominal injury, and Sharapova winning six straight games to storm back for the win 4-6, 6-2, 6-4.

"I am going to be playing against a player that didn't expect much coming into this tournament, she has nothing to lose going into the match and those players are always dangerous opponents," Sharapova said.

Williams, naturally, likes her chances.

"I'm like a chameleon. I can kind of change and get my game going to whatever the situation is," the modest American said. "If I play well, which I don't think I've even reached yet at all in this tournament...it's really hard for anyone on the women's tour to beat me."

TENNIS-X NEWS, NOTES, QUOTES AND BARBS
Sam Querrey has accepted a wildcard at the ATP stop in Delray Beach, Florida...Andy Roddick on how he will sleep after his Aussie Open semifinal beating at the hands of Roger Federer: "It depends on how much I drink tonight."...Roger Federer on his father watching his matches: "He's retired. He's helping me out. I'll just take him to the nice places. There's many of them. Yeah, he used to get very nervous when I used to play. He's relaxed more now. Same as my mom. Watching these matches, I think he likes 'em, you know. He always comes to the tournament in Basel, obviously. Then he comes to Davis Cup when we play at home. Sometimes they come to like final weekends of Grand Slams at the French or Wimbledon where it's close by to travel to. Who knows, maybe they travel more because they're retired now, which would be nice to see them around more, yeah."...Rafael Nadal may have to pull from Spain's Davis Cup opener with a sore leg...ESPN's Mary Carillo on Serena Williams' two-week weightloss plan at the Australian Open: "I hadn't seen Serena play in so long and she had a pretty tough draw, but she has looked better with every round. She looks thinner and fitter. She was tugging at her dress during her semifinal match; it looked looser on her, I'm not kidding. She's getting match fit, match tough as the tournament has gone on."...Can America get a refund on sleep for that Roger Federer-Andy Roddick match?...From Tennis.com: "TV cameras pick up a man in Serena Williams' box possibly trying to use his watch to reflect the sun's glare towards Vaidisova when she was serving during their semifinal. Vaidisova did not show any signs of noticing it during the match and did not understand a reference to the alleged incident afterwards. "I didn't see that. I tried to focus, not pay attention to anything. I really didn't notice that," she said. Serena dismissed the suggestion. "Ha ha ha ha -- that's the most outrageous thing I've ever heard. As if anyone would do that on purpose," she said."...From tennis blogger Peter Bodo: "For his outstanding effort in the presser, Roddick got a round of sympathetic applause when he left the interview room -- a spontaneous sign of respect that is frowned upon by the more pious and self-important members of the press corps, tolerated by those who actually have a heart. Even so, this spontaneous outpourings of sleazeball press love is usually reserved for the winner of a major final. It was a poignant moment."...From Tennis Week: "[Serena] Williams' 3-6, 6-2, 8-6 quarterfinal victory over Shahar Peer, which was televised on tape delay, registered the largest Australian Open audience for a non semifinal or final in ESPN2's history."...Tennis.com editor James Martin on Roger vs. Andy: "Heading into the Australian Open, I didn't pick Roddick to win; I went out on a limb and chose Federer. Now? Although I'm not about to bet my HDTV on Roddick, I think he's got a real shot -- better than 50-50 -- at dethroning the king...When the two step onto the Rod Laver Arena court, Roddick will push Federer to tiebreakers, a format that favors the player who attacks. Right now, that's Andy. His ability to anticipate the passing shot has made him a force in the forecourt." And from SI.com blogger Justin Gimelstob: "With Andy starting to tap into his potential on a more consistent basis, he's one of the few players that can challenge Federer. I think the semis of this Australian Open is a great opportunity for him to do just that. I'm going to go with the upset and pick Andy in five tough sets."...From the Herald Sun: "Seen at the tennis was former James Bond and regular visitor to Melbourne George Lazenby. The actor is married to former tennis star Pam Shriver, who is commentating for a US network. Lazenby appeared to have his own security guard this week. Shriver has said she hopes to soon settle in Australia, either in Sydney or Melbourne, and is looking for a club to support...Martina Hingis is the latest Australian Open tennis player who has not respected the security underneath Rod Laver Arena. "This is over the top," Hingis was heard saying to one of the security guards when they asked to see her accreditation pass, which was in her bag. No it's not, Martina. It doesn't matter who you are, the rules are the same for everyone and the security guards are just doing their job. The players would be the first to complain if something did happen because of poor security, so it's not a hard thing really to just show your pass and move on. Serena Williams was also rude to a security guard last week for the same reason."...From SI.com's Jon Wertheim on Roger v Andy: "Kia, the car manufacturer, sponsors a "play of the day" spot. I was talking with Mats Wilander after the match and he suggested KIA simply replay the second set, one in which Federer was 24 of 30 and hit 11 winners to only one unforced error."...From The Australian: "The future of Australian tennis may be in reasonable shape after all following another promising day at junior level. After two days of talk about Bernard Tomic, who exited like a kitten rather than a bomb on Tuesday, West Australian Brydan Klein served notice -- with both his game and verbally -- that he could be a future force...Klein still has some attitude. He was warned yesterday after yelling "you pussy" to give up a service break in the second set, then let the entire crowd know he was "playing like a piece of crap" and that "this was the worst game of my life." The firebrand, who could not believe he received a code violation for using the term "pussy," is also trying to swear less, yesterday resorting to using words like "sausage" and "glue" instead of profanities. "Pussy is not a swear word," he said. The broad-shouldered Klein is not afraid to speak his mind, accusing the tournament top-seed of faking an injury in the third set. "I don't think anything happened to him," he said. "I think he was fine, but once he got down in the set, he was looking for an excuse, or something to put me off. I think it was a tactic to try and stall."...Chuang Chia-jung and Chan Yung-jan created history when they became the first players from Taiwan to reach the final of a Grand Slam on Thursday, they will play Cara Black and Liesel Huber in the Aussie Open women's doubles final. Bob and Mike Bryan will play Jonas Bjorkman and Max Mirnyi in the men's doubles final.