Roddick shows no mercy to floundering Fish

MELBOURNE, Jan 23 (Reuters) Sixth seed Andy Roddick played almost flawless tennis to demolish fellow American Mardy Fish 6-2 6-2 6-2 and reach the Australian Open semi-finals today.

The former world number one battered his former high school friend in just one hour and 27 minutes, making only four unforced errors to advance to the last four at Melbourne Park for the third time.

''I played pretty well today,'' Roddick said in a courtside interview. ''I think Mardy might have been a little bit nervous at the beginning as he made a few errors he wouldn't normally make but I was happy with the way I played.'' Roddick blasted through the first set in 29 minutes and the unseeded Fish, who upset fourth seed Ivan Ljubicic in the first round, simply did not possess the attacking weapons to disrupt the rhythm of his Davis Cup team mate.

The 25-year-old Fish, appearing in his first grand slam quarter-final, broke back to 1-1 at the start of the second set but Roddick simply lifted his game, thundering down 10 aces and a blistering range of groundstrokes to overwhelm his opponent.

The former US Open champion broke serve seven times, racing through the final set and sealing victory on his first match point when Fish sent a return beyond the baseline.

The 24-year-old Roddick, who struggled past former champion Marat Safin and ninth seed Mario Ancic in the last two rounds, will play world number one Roger Federer or Spaniard Tommy Robredo in the semi-finals.

REUTERS PM HT1210