Roddick Screams Into the Semis

Andy Roddick let loose a scream just before midnight here that threatened to wake up folks in Manhattan.

After the ninth-seeded Roddick defeated No. 15 Lleyton Hewitt, 6-3, 7-5, 6-4, in the U.S. Open quarterfinals Wednesday night, the American went primal after his first win against Hewitt at a Grand Slam.

It will be the first time he has gone past the quarterfinals since winning here in 2003, and in the semifinals he will face Mikhail Youzhny, who upset No. 2 Rafael Nadal earlier in the day.

“I guess I can play tennis a little bit again. I don’t know what to say. I’m in a little bit of shock,” said Roddick in his on-court TV interview.

Roddick served big, hitting 17 aces, and played the key points well, going four for four on break-point opportunities. He saved a set point in the 10th game of the second set and saved two break points in the eighth game of the third.

Hewitt was asked if Roddick played this well, would he have a chance against Roger Federer? “Probably not,” Hewitt said.

Before that, Roddick has to deal with Youzhny, who was the breakout star of the day. In the span of a few hours, Youzhny took out Rafael Nadal, and later teamed with Leos Friedl to defeat the No. 1-seeded men’s doubles team of Bob and Mike Bryan in the third round.

The prospect of Federer-Nadal, Part III evaporated in the New York air when Nadal squandered three set points -- on his own serve, no less -- in the third set against Youzhny.

Youzhny defeated a dispirited Nadal, 6-3, 5-7, 7-6 (5), 6-1, in the quarterfinals.

“Actually, I think it was my best match because I play the same tennis from the first point to the last,” said Youzhny, who had 49 winners to Nadal’s 23.

The 54th-ranked Russian had never been past the fourth round of a Grand Slam before this tournament. He went after Nadal’s potent forehand instead of trying to work over Nadal’s backhand, like so many others have done in the past.

“Of course, against Nadal, is stupid to play one, two balls to his backhand, and after he starts to play his forehand because he’s already in this corner,” Youzhny said.

No doubt Federer, who will face No. 5 James Blake tonight in the quarterfinals, will be watching the tape with interest. Federer and Nadal have met in the last two Grand Slam events this year, and the U.S. Open would have been the rubber match.

The French Open champion and Wimbledon finalist, Nadal was so dispirited near the end -- he won just four points in the first five games of the fourth set -- you wondered where the Vamos had gone in Nadal. He was like a cartoon character without the animation.

“I have a big chance, no?” said Nadal, who refused to make any excuses for the loss. “I have a chance to be in the semifinals here in the third set because Mikhail, I saw him, he was tired, no?”

And Nadal usually feeds off massive crowd support. Not Wednesday.

“Well, not the best day, no?” Nadal asked. “ ‘Misha, Misha.’ I listen to that more than, ‘Rafa, Rafa.”

It was a mixed day for Team Russia.

Nikolay Davydenko finished off his match against Andy Murray, which had been interrupted by rain, winning the fourth-round contest, 6-1, 5-7, 6-3, 6-0, and the thriller of the afternoon was No. 14 Tommy Haas’ fourth-round victory against Marat Safin, 4-6, 6-3, 2-6, 6-2, 7-6 (5).

Haas has won consecutive five-setters here.

“It’s a lottery,” Safin said. “I’m playing much better. I couldn’t think I would beat anybody coming here.”

Still, Safin is always going to do things his own way. “No, when you’re 26, it’s difficult to change,” he said. “You can’t teach the old dog to sit, huh.”

It was an 0-2 day for the Safin family. Top-seeded Amelie Mauresmo defeated his younger sister, Dinara Safina, 6-2, 6-3, in the quarterfinals of women’s singles. In Friday’s semifinals, Mauresmo will play No. 3 Maria Sharapova, who beat Tatiana Golovin, 7-6 (4), 7-6 (0).

In the other remaining quarterfinal, No. 2 Justine Henin-Hardenne beat No. 10 Lindsay Davenport, 6-4, 6-4, rallying from a service break down in the second set. Davenport said she had no idea whether this would be her last Open.

Henin-Hardenne needed treatment for an injured back/rib in the second set, and she won’t be the only ailing player on the court in her semifinal.

Her opponent, Jelena Jankovic, apparently injured her back in practice on Thursday and needed treatment during her doubles match.

“It’s really painful,” she told one reporter. “It’s really sad.”

lisa.dillman@latimes.com