Andys To Meet In Semis; Sisters In Ladies' Final

After comeback five-set win in first indoor match on Centre Court, Andy Murray looks to pump up home country again tomorrow in semifinal match against Andy Roddick. (Photo courtesy of London Times Online)

Most of Great Britain may not be as enthused as the rest of the world is about the latest Grand Slam final matchup featuring the Williams sisters, which will take place Saturday after Venus and Serena won their semifinal matches against Dinara Safina and Elena Dementieva, respectively. They are instead focused on tomorrow's semifinal matches in the gentlemen's draw, and on their native son, third-seeded Andy Murray, who faces off against sixth seed Andy Roddick on Centre Court. Germany's Tommy Haas faces the unenviable task of trying to derail Roger Federer's quest for a record 15th Grand Slam title in the other semi. However, the conversation du jour around the All-England Club is whether or not Murray can do what Tim Henman could not, and that is bring a Wimbledon title back to the land of Big Ben for the first time since Fred Perry did it back in 1936, when greats such as McEnroe and Connors weren't even born yet.

Murray is 6-2 lifetime against Roddick, who won a five-set quarterfinal match against 2002 Wimbledon champ Lleyton Hewitt to get into this spot. The two have only met once in a Grand Slam, and it came at Wimbledon, when a then-19-year-old Murray bounced Roddick in straight sets in the third round back in 2006, when Federer won his fourth straight Wimbledon title. Murray comes in off a stright-set drubbing of 2003 French Open winner Juan Carlos Ferrero, who reached the U.S. Open final the same year, losing to Roddick in what remains the American's lone Grand Slam victory.

"I feel confident because I've won a lot of matches on the grass," said Murray, who becomes the first Brit to reach the semis since Henman did it in 2002.

As far as Murray reaching the final is concerned, he has a win against Haas at Wimbledon, eliminating him in the third round last year, (he followed that up with his epic five-set win over Richard Gasquet) while he is 6-2 lifetime against Federer. However, Murray lost to Federer in straight sets in last year's U.S. Open final.