U.S. OPEN MEN'S ROUNDUP

updated 4:32 p.m. ET Sept. 8, 2006

NEW YORK - Jimmy Connors has been drawing crowds for his DVD-autographing sessions at the U.S. Open and kudos for the help he’s given Andy Roddick.

Roddick’s run to Saturday’s semifinals at Flushing Meadows was built on big serving, of course, but also plenty of new nuances: charging the net more, two-fisted backhands down the line, stronger returning.

Which is why he’s quick to correct the premise when there are questions about whether the “old Roddick,” the one that won the 2003 U.S. Open and ended that year ranked No. 1, is back.

“It’s not the ‘old,’ — it’s a different way of playing than that was,” Roddick said. “So I feel like it’s a new chapter.”

The next page will be written when he faces 54th-ranked Mikhail Youzhny of Russia in the semifinals. Top-seeded Roger Federer, aiming for a third consecutive U.S. Open title, meets another Russian, No. 7 Nikolay Davydenko, in the other semifinal.

A year ago, Roddick was upset in the first round at the U.S. Open, the beginning of a slide that was soon followed by a 10-month title drought, leading to a brief fall out of the top 10. Both Roddick, seeded ninth at the Open, and his older brother and erstwhile coach, John, say the problem was a crisis of confidence.

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“Getting here, where you’re in the semifinals, you feel maybe validated a little bit. The job is definitely not done, but you feel good about your performance, regardless,” John Roddick said. “Confidence — it will come and it will go. So you lose it; you can get it back just as fast as you lose it.”

Then, turning his thoughts to the game’s top player, John Roddick said: “It kind of makes what Roger has done even more amazing, really. You haven’t seen a dip at all.”

That’s for sure.

Federer is into the semifinals at his 10th consecutive Grand Slam tournament, tying Ivan Lendl’s record for the Open era, which began in 1968. And while Roddick has stayed stuck on one major title, Federer is aiming for No. 9 — all since 2003.

And for all of the fuss about Roddick’s resurgence thanks to Connors, it’s noteworthy that Federer is progressing here without the benefit of an on-site coach. Tony Roche, his part-time mentor, didn’t make the trip to New York from his home in Australia; Roche wasn’t with Federer during the U.S. hard-court season, either.

“He was on the road with Roger for nine weeks in a row from Rome through Wimbledon. He spent 10 days with Roger in Dubai after Wimbledon, getting Roger ready for the summer,” said Federer’s agent, Tony Godsick. “They will meet up again later this fall.”

Federer, 7-0 against Davydenko, is trying to win his third major of the year, something he did in 2004, when he had no coach at all.

“The whole season’s been my best by far, I think, because I’ve been in all (of the) major finals,” said Federer, who lost to Rafael Nadal in the French Open title match.

“It’s great to be so consistent at the highest level. It’s the toughest level, too, with the five-setters and so forth. Nothing is allowed to happen — can’t be sick, can’t be a little bit injured.”

Nadal is gone from this tournament, having been ousted in the quarterfinals by Youzhny, who celebrated that victory by putting his racket on his head, saluting and bowing to the crowd.

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Now Youzhny, never before past the fourth round at a major and the lowest-ranked U.S. Open semifinalist in a dozen years, becomes Roddick’s problem. Or the other way around, because for all of the recent wrinkles in the American’s game, it’s still all predicated on his serving. He’s been broken a total of four times through five matches.

Roddick owns the record for fastest serve at 155 mph, and while he can still bring the heat, regularly reaching 140 mph during this tournament, it’s his slower, spin-laden offerings that have been confusing foes.

Listen to Roddick talk about his serving repertoire, and he sounds exactly like a major league starter discussing his various pitches.

“The most effective thing is I’m mixing it up, and then, by throwing in some off-pace stuff, it makes my big one look maybe a little bit faster,” Roddick said after beating 2001 Open winner Lleyton Hewitt in the quarterfinals.

“It has to do with confidence, being able to know that I can use them and use them confidently. I feel like I’m hitting every serve pretty confidently right now. ... It just has to do with feeling like the options are available to me right now.”

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