Roddick drops Berdych, faces Stepanek

BRISBANE, Australia – Top-seeded Andy Roddick will meet defending champion Radek Stepanek in the final of the Brisbane International after rallying for a 1-6, 6-3, 6-4 win over fourth-seeded Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic on Saturday.

The 27-year-old American beat Frenchman Richard Gasquet in the quarterfinals Friday night and endured a 2-hour, 8-minute semifinal against Berdych in humid conditions starting about 14 hours later.

Roddick dropped serve twice against Berdych in the opening set, when he didn’t convert any of his four breakpoint chances and fell behind 5-0.

It was the first time in the tournament his service had been broken, ending a run of 30 straight winning service games.

He rebounded in the second set, going straight to a 3-0 lead with an early service break. The third set went on serve until Roddick broke for a 5-4 lead and then served it out.

“I like to confuse and conquer sometimes,” Roddick joked of his lapse in the first set. “I didn’t feel like I was hitting the ball that badly, but he played really well.

“I think the biggest part of the match was the first couple of games of the second set, where I didn’t want to let him keep rolling ... to stop the momentum early in the second.”   (AP)