TENNIS in DEPTH.

Croatian Marin Cilic survived a late fightback from Andy Roddick before booking his place in the last four of the Australian Open on Tuesday.

Cilic had looked set for an relatively easy passage into the last four as he stormed into a two-set lead against Roddick.

But despite struggling with an injury to his right shoulder, seventh-seeded Roddick refused to give up and he showed his fighting qualities.

However Cilic was able to hold his nerve in a tense deciding set to seal a 7-6 6-3 3-6 2-6 6-3 victory – and a first-ever Grand Slam semi-final appearance.

Cilic, who beat Juan Martin del Potro in the fourth round, will now face either Andy Murray or Rafael Nadal for a place in the final.

Roddick had looked out of sorts early on and was clearly troubled by the problem with his shoulder – with the American needing a medical time out and on going treatment.

Cilic had served for the first set and although he was broken, he responded well to take the tiebreak.

Roddick started the second set well by breaking Cilic, however he failed to consolidate his advantage as the 14th seed hit back to break him twice before moving on to take the set.

Thoughts of a straight sets victory quickly vanished, though, as Roddick again showed his never-say-die attitude to break the Cilic serve before vitally holding his own.

And it looked liked a dramatic comeback was on the cards as Roddick stormed through the fourth set, playing his best tennis of the match.

However Cilic was not to be denied and he broke Roddick early in the deciding set before going on to see out the victory.

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