Murray is knocked out of Wimbledon (From Croydon Guardian)

Murray is knocked out of Wimbledon

7:01pm Friday 3rd July 2009 in

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British hopes for a home-grown Wimbledon champion were crushed when Andy Murray crashed out of the tournament.

In a tough-fought semi-final battle, Murray lost out to fast-serving Andy Roddick 6-4 4-6 7-6 7-6 in three hours seven minutes.

The 26-year-old American dropped to his knees as he won the match before appearing to mouth "I'm sorry" to the crowd.

Roddick said: "He had all the pressure on him and I could come out and swing and that probably helped me today.

"Let's make no mistake, he has been a much better player than I have over the past year, I was just a little bit better today."

In Sunday's men's singles final, Roddick will play Swiss maestro Roger Federer, who earlier showed sublime form in beating German Tommy Haas 7-6-7-5 6-3.

The 22-year-old Scot was bidding to become the first British man to reach the final since Henry "Bunny" Austin in 1938, but A-Rod's fire-power proved too much.

Murray joins Roger Taylor and Tim Henman on the list of British semi-finalists who have not quite made the final.

Henman played for a place in the final four times, most recently in 2002 against Australian Lleyton Hewitt.

British tennis fans will now have to wait another year to see if their hero can become the first winner of the men's singles since Fred Perry in 1936.