Hewitt, Roddick in SAP Open semifinals

Top-seeded Roddick reached his fourth straight semi-final with a convincing 6-3, 6-2 victory over Germany's Bjorn Phau.

Top-seeded Andy Roddick reached his fourth straight semi-final in the SAP Open with a convincing 6-3, 6-2 victory on Friday over Germany's Bjorn Phau.

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Roddick, looking to win his third consecutive title here, won his 13th straight match at the event.

"My first-serve percentage was up where I wanted to be and that totally changes the dynamic of a match," Roddick said. "All the important stats were good."

Third-seeded Lleyton Hewitt reached his first semifinals of the year with a 7-6 (7/4), 6-2 victory over fellow Australian Wayne Arthurs.

Hewitt, the 2002 champ, will face Vincent Spadea in Saturday's semifinal. Spadea advanced with a 6-1, 2-6, 6-3 victory over Kristof Vliegen of Belgium. Britain's Andy Murray reached his second career semi with a 4-6, 7-5, 6-4 win over Robin Soderling of Sweden and will play Roddick.

"He has one of the best serves in the game and has won a Grand Slam," the 18-year-old Murray said of Roddick. "These are the sort of matches you want to play because it shows you where your game is."

Hewitt, 10-1 in San Jose, has won his four previous matches with Spadea.

"He's going to be tough," Hewitt said. "I'll have to step it up again."

Roddick got 72 per cent of his first serves in play and won 31 of 33 first-serve points, including all 19 in the first set. Hewitt hurt his left ankle during a second-round loss at last month's Australian Open, and said he's starting to regain his form.

"I feel like this was a step in the right direction," he said. "The first two matches I could feel it. Today I barely felt it. I've been getting a lot of treatment and that's been ongoing for the last three weeks."

Arthurs recorded 15 aces to force the first set into a tiebreaker. Hewitt finally broke a serve at 5-4 and carried the momentum into the second set. He's beaten Arthurs in all four of their matchups.

"I was trying to get as many balls back as possible," Hewitt said. "That first set was tough. I was fortunate enough to get a couple of points when I needed them. He didn't give me any opportunity whatsoever."

Arthurs, who felt his back tighten up a little bit in the second set, agreed that Hewitt was on the mend.

"As soon as he gets some matches under his belt he'll get back to where he was," Arthurs said. "He's top five if not top three." John McEnroe, with partner Jonas Bjorkman, continues his return to the ATP Tour with a doubles match against Ashley Fisher and Tripp Phillips later on Friday.

The 47-year-old McEnroe received a rousing ovation from the crowd when he came out to warm up for his match.