Ruined Roddick

WIMBLEDON, England – Two points.

That’s how close Andy Roddick was to getting another crack at Roger Federer at Wimbledon.

Two points.

Up two sets and a break against a kid making his Grand Slam quarterfinal debut, and later just-that-far from winning, the No. 3-seeded Roddick unraveled Friday, losing 4-6, 4-6, 7-6 (2), 7-6 (3), 8-6 to No. 12 Richard Gasquet of France.

A white baseball cap tugged over his eyes, the usually gregarious Roddick discussed the defeat deliberately and in a monotone, as if he couldn’t quite believe what happened.

“Well, it’s another lost opportunity at Wimbledon,” the American said. “I’d love to make you try to understand what it feels like in the pit of (my) stomach right now, but I don’t know if I can do that. I don’t know if I’m articulate enough.”

He lost to four-time defending champion Federer at the All England Club in the 2003 semifinals and the next two finals. Another showdown loomed because they were in the same half of the draw, and Federer beat 2003 French Open champ Juan Carlos Ferrero 7-6 (2), 3-6, 6-1, 6-3 in an earlier quarterfinal.

Might Roddick have been thinking ahead, even a tad, once he built his big lead against Gasquet?

“No,” was Roddick’s reply.

So instead of having the four top-seeded men in the Wimbledon semifinals for the first time since 1995, Gasquet will be the interloper facing No. 1 Federer today, while No. 2 Rafael Nadal meets No. 4 Novak Djokovic.

Not only does the top-ranked Federer take a 52-match winning streak on grass into his semifinal, but he also had the advantage of having played a little more than 1 1/2 hours in his rain-suspended match against Ferrero and walking off court before 3:30 p.m. Gasquet’s struggle against Roddick, in contrast, lasted more than 3 1/2 hours and finished after 8 p.m.

“I am tired,” said Gasquet, who hit more aces than Roddick, 23-22, and far more winners, 93-60. “I played a lot of time, with a lot of pressure.”

His wasn’t even close to the longest workday, though. Djokovic played for 5 hours – 5 minutes shy of the longest one-day singles match in the tournament’s 130-year history – before pulling out a 7-6 (4), 7-6 (9), 6-7 (3), 4-6, 7-5 victory over No. 10 Marcos Baghdatis on Court 1.

“Somebody had to win today,” Baghdatis said, “so it was him.”

Before the third set, he was treated by a trainer for some fatigue in his right shoulder, weary from hitting shot after shot. Before the fifth, Djokovic dropped to the ground so a trainer could massage his lower back.

“How did I manage to hold on?” Djokovic asked afterward. “Now I’m really trying to recover and get ready for the next one.”

Both he and Nadal were faced with a sixth consecutive day on court today, but the three-time French Open champion, like Federer, should count on an edge in the freshness department.

Nadal, trying to become the first man since Bjorn Borg in 1980 to win at Roland Garros and the All England Club in the same year, needed barely more than 2 hours to eliminate No. 7 Tomas Berdych 7-6 (1), 6-4, 6-2.

Roddick led 4-2 in the third set. But Gasquet held at love to 4-3, then hit two consecutive backhand winners – his best stroke – en route to breaking for 4-4. Eventually, that set marked the end of Roddick’s streak of winning 18 straight tiebreakers. Gasquet took the next tiebreaker, too, after Roddick almost took the match.

With Roddick ahead 6-5 in the fourth set and Gasquet serving, the Frenchman put a forehand into the net to make it 30-30 – two points from the end. But Roddick missed a forehand wide, then Gasquet smacked an ace to take the game.

That was as close as Roddick would get, and Gasquet won for the first time after trailing 2-0 in sets.

“When you put your blood, sweat and tears – everything you have – into something,” Roddick said, “and you can almost taste it – you envision something and it doesn’t work out – it’s not easy.”