Tennis:An Australian diver has just escaped from the jaws of a great white shark by poking it in the eye and such a thought may occur to Andy Roddick before he plays the world number one, Roger Federer, tomorrow for a place in Sunday's final of the Australian Open. The two have met 13 times, with the Swiss having won 12, including two Wimbledon finals and the final of last year's US Open.
Yet Roddick, under the tutelage of Jimmy Connors, is currently playing some exceptional tennis. The hang-dog slope from baseline to chair has gone and the old Roddick strut has returned. In the first of the quarter-finals here he demolished his fellow American Mardy Fish 6-2, 6-2, 6-2 and might as well have been shooting fish in a barrel.
Connors, who won the Australian Open 33 years ago, one of his eight grand slam titles, has managed a make-over on Roddick and, if the ugly duckling is not yet a sleek and gliding swan, it is a vast improvement. The power is undiminished but the rallies have become more cerebral and the backhand no longer simply gets the ball back. Roddick is volleying with something resembling competence and occasionally brilliance.
All this means that Federer will have more of a challenge on his hands as he strives for his third title here and his 10th major title in total. Roddick had a match point against him during last year's end-of-season Tennis Masters Cup in Shanghai and beat him just before the Australian Open, albeit in an exhibition match at Kooyong.
Federer, in windy conditions, was not entirely at his best in his quarter-final against the world number six, Tommy Robredo of Spain, though the time he spent at the net, much more than usual, suggests that this may be his tactic against the American.
Who but Federer of the current top players could use a grand slam quarter-final for practice? "I've said for the past probably five or six months the gap has either been closing a little bit or Roger hasn't been extending it," said Roddick. "I don't feel like you can sit back and let him create. I think that's when you get in trouble. I'm going to have to go with what I do well and try to attack him, at least make him come up with shots from uncomfortable positions."
It might be said of this year's Australian Open that the women's tournament will not be over until the fat lady loses and Serena Williams duly defied all tenets of sporting logic when she reached the semi-finals with a three-set victory over Israel's Shahar Peer. Williams, playing in only her sixth tournament in 13 months, should not be able to play tennis of such a high standard given her overall size and fitness.
Several times in the first set, which Williams lost, her mother and coach, Oracene, shook her head in despair at her daughter's lumbering efforts to reach the ball. Yet Williams, winner of seven grand slam titles, is such a formidable competitor that she is still able to defy the rules that apply to lesser mortals.
Next up is the 17-year-old Czech, Nicole Vaidisova, already a top-10 player, and capable of halting Serena's run should she not be constricted by her reputation. An out-of-condition Williams won here two years ago, her last title, and it is increasingly possible she may do it again.
