Roddick, Agassi shut out of U.S. Open semifinals

NEW YORK — Andy Roddick ran into a bold, bigger version of himself at the U.S. Open, and 6-foot-6 Joachim Johansson sent the defending champion home.

Roddick was upset 6-4, 6-4, 3-6, 2-6, 6-4 Thursday night by another 22-year-old brandishing a powerful serve and forehand, but also someone who’s won just one title, was playing in his first major quarterfinal, and who started the year ranked 113th.

Not only that, but Johansson never had played a five-set match. Yet there he was, smacking serves at 141 mph, outslugging Roddick from the baseline, and ending the match by breaking the game’s best server.

“I gave it everything I had. I thought I was pretty well prepared. It’s disheartening. It’s disappointing. But I’ll recover,” Roddick said. “Losses like this, they make me hungrier.”

Coupled with Andre Agassi’s loss earlier Thursday, it is the first time since 1986 that no American man reached the Open semifinals.

Put Roddick’s defeat in the same category as Al Gore’s in the 2000 election: Roddick won the equivalent of the popular vote, taking far more points overall: 152 to 128. But he went just 3 for 15 on break chances, while Johansson was 3 for 5 in that department.

“That means I won the right points,” Johansson said. “I don’t know how, but it was very good for me.”

Both pounded aces, with Johansson finishing with 30 to raise his tournament-leading total to 109, while Roddick had 34.

After Johansson was nearly perfect in the first two sets, Roddick took over Nos. 3 and 4, making a total of three unforced errors while going on a run in which he won 44 of 46 points on his serve, including 29 straight.

“I was in a lot of games. I felt I had the momentum, and then all it takes is a little bit of time and things just change,” Roddick said. “Let’s give some credit to him. The guy serves out of a tree.”

Far less surprising was Agassi’s exit earlier in the day. That’s because the eight-time major champ was up against No. 1 Roger Federer, who won 6-3, 2-6, 7-5, 3-6, 6-3 in a quarterfinal suspended by rain early in the fourth set the night before and wrapped up in swirling winds that approached 40 mph.

Federer, the Swiss star, is two wins from becoming the first man since 1988 to win three Grand Slam titles in a year.

He’ll face No. 5 Tim Henman of Britain, while Johansson goes up against 2001 Open champion Lleyton Hewitt of Australia — whose sister Jaslyn just happens to be the 28th-seeded Swede’s girl-friend.

That should make for interesting dinner conversation.

“She can pick the boyfriend, but she can’t pick the brother, so she’ll go for me,” Johansson said.

In the final game, No. 2 Roddick fell behind love-40 with a double-fault, saved two match points thanks to huge serves, then sailed a backhand long on the third. Up at the net for a postmatch handshake, the 6-2 Roddick reached up to tap Johansson on the chest. The two know each other well: They reached the 18-and-under doubles final as a team at the 2000 French Open.

“To see him kind of progress a little late is surprising to me,” Roddick said. “The guy’s got weapons. He’s still developing.”

Johansson inherited some of his ability: His father, Leif, was Bjorn Borg’s teammate on Sweden’s 1974 Davis Cup team. And little Joachim — surely, he was little at one time — got to practice with Borg as a teen.

Hours earlier, Agassi sat alone, starting blankly at an Arthur Ashe Stadium doorway, the silence punctured by the rustling leaves on nearby trees. Soon, he’d walk through that exit, his U.S. Open done. In those idle moments on a lobby bench, there was plenty for the 34-year-old Agassi to contemplate.

“My game plan is to play until I can’t do it,” Agassi said. “I certainly want to be able to assess my level of play, and at some point my level of play will dictate my decisions. But as of right now, I’m trying to win tournaments, and I believe that with that focus, I can still do that.”

With a point here and there making the difference, Federer was superb, breaking Agassi in the next-to-last game and displaying the win-the-big-ones instinct he’s developed.