American sixth seed Andy Roddick ended Andy Murray’s hopes of winning Wimbledon after beating the British number one in four thrilling sets on Centre Court on Friday.

Third seed Murray was hoping to become the first British man to win the tournament since Fred Perry in 1936, but he was eventually out-gunned by an inspired Roddick who went through 6-4 4-6 7-6 7-6.

Roddick will now face Roger Federer, who has beaten him in their two previous Wimbledon final meetings — in 2004 and 2005.

“I had to play my very best tennis to win. I can’t say enough good things about Andy, he played so well, but I can play well sometimes too,” Roddick told BBC Sport.

“Not many people gave me a chance before the match, but I knew I could win. Throughout my career I have had many shortcomings but trying hard is not one of them.

“In fairness, he had all the pressure on him — and that probably helped me a bit. I played very very well and it’s a dream to reach another grand slam final after a couple of barren years.”

Murray was punished for being too passive in the opening set and, although he bounced back in the second, Roddick’s bullet serving and consistent all-round game earned him a third Wimbledon final appearance against Federer.

The pressure of the match showed on the British number one: in the third set Murray was warned for bad language.

Murray told a news conference: “You always expect your opponents to play well at this stage of the tournament. I had a few chances in the first tie-break and also had chances early in the third set and I didn’t take any of them.

“I thought I played well, but he served really, really well. He was serving at a high pace and at such a high percentage, sometimes there’s not a whole lot you can do.” – CNN