Andy Roddick swept aside Jonas Bjorkman with his booming serve as the United States took an insurmountable 3-1 lead against Sweden to set up a summit clash with Russia in the final of the Davis Cup tennis tournament.
Sweden were badly hit by injuries and after their top singles player Robin Soderling missed the tie with a wrist injury, Thomas Johansson was hit by a stomach bug, which forced the team think-tank to field doubles specialist Bjorkman in the match against Roddick.
Roddick was in a belligerent mood as he fired 16 aces en route to a 6-2 7-6 6-4 win against Bjorkam too book a berth in the final where they meet defending champion Russia.
An elated Roddick felt his arduous practice had paid off and now the team can look forward to a Davis Cup triumph.
He said
It’s moments like these you put in time practising for. I thought he played great in the second set, I could easily have suffered a slip-up.
I think we have the right team now to win the Davis Cup. But me thinking it and actually doing it are two different things.
Earlier, Russia reached the final after Igor Andreev edged out Philipp Kohlschreiber 6-3 3-6 6-0 6-3 in the deciding rubber to beat Germany 3-2.
