TENNIS in DEPTH.

Top seed Andy Roddick beat Australian Lleyton Hewitt to book a clash with Radek Stepanek in the Memphis Championship final.

American Roddick won 2-6 7-6 6-4, while Czech fifth seed Stepanek beat Israel’s Dudi Sela 6-3 6-1.

“I was lucky to get through,” Roddick said afterwards. “He had me up against it for the better part of the match.”

Roddick, 26, hit half his 16 aces in the second set and six more in the third and has reached the semi-finals at all four events this year, though he has yet to claim a title.

He is through to his fourth final at Memphis, where he triumphed in 2002, and said: “I’d love to win this tournament again. It has been a long time.”

Stepanek won last week in San Jose and has not lost a set this week.

But the world number 21 has only beaten sixth-ranked Roddick once in their five meetings.

“I’m feeling great on the court,” Stepanek said. “With every match, the confidence grows and grows. I’m very happy for that.

“I’m healthy, I’m not having problems with my body, which is very important for me, and I can build on that.”

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