Stepanek beats Roddick to make San Jose final

Fourth-seeded Czech Radek Stepanek rallied to beat top seed and defending champion Andy Roddick Saturday and reach the final of the 600,000-dollar ATP hardcourt tournament here.

Stepanek downed Roddick 3-6, 7-6 (7/5), 6-4 to line up a clash against fifth-seeded Mardy Fish.

Fish notched a 6-3, 6-2 victory over third-seeded James Blake, who was hobbled by a sore right ankle.

After dropping the first set, Stepanek scraped into a tiebreaker in the second and leveled the match.

One service break in the third game of the third set proved all he needed to finish off Roddick despite the American's 19 aces.

Stepanek faced two break points in the final game of the match, saving the first with an ace. He then wasted a match point with a double fault, then saved another break point en route to a victory in 2hrs 13min.

Against Fish, Stepanek will be seeking his second title of the season after his triumph in Brisbane.

Fish pounded out 16 aces as he got the better of his doubles partner in one hour.

Fish hasn't dropped his serve in three matches, and Blake, who injured is ankle on Friday in a quarter-final win over Sam Querrey, didn't muster a break chance in the match.

"I had no idea his ankle was that bad," Fish said. "It's just a testament to James. He has never defaulted in a match in his career."
Blake trailed 1-2 in the first set when he asked for a trainer and had his ankle retaped. He had the process repeated at the end of the first set, but to no avail.

"It affected me more than I thought it would have when I did it," Blake admitted. "I just iced it a few times yesterday and taped it up. I thought I'd be ready to go."

The trainer told Blake he wouldn't damage the ankle further, so the American decided to continue.

"I thought if I wasn't going to hurt it any more, I could suck up the pain for 20 minutes, 30 minutes and make it a little better for the fans, hopefully, and better for Mardy to feel like he earned a victory, which he did," Blake said.

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