Roddick defeats an ill Vahaly

MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- Andy Roddick proved his wrist is just fine, beating an ailing Brian Vahaly 7-5, 6-1 Saturday to reach the final of the Kroger St. Jude tournament.

Roddick will play Taylor Dent for the title Sunday. Dent overcame problems with his serve and defeated Vince Spadea 6-2, 6-4. Dent, the son of former Australian star Phil Dent, is in the finals for the second time in his career.

Roddick missed the past four weeks recovering from a sore right wrist that knocked him out of the semifinals of the Australian Open.

"The main priority of coming here and playing was to be healthy. Anything after that was just a bonus,'' Roddick said. "I'm very happy and kind of surprised I made it to the final.''

Vahaly, playing in his first ATP semifinal, was weakened by a stomach virus and didn't get to sleep until 6:30 a.m. Saturday. He tried to settle his stomach before the match, but the tight first set left him dehydrated, nauseous and troubled by poor depth perception.

This was the first time since 1995 that an ATP tournament had four Americans in the semifinals. In that tournament in San Jose, Calif., the final four were Andre Agassi, Michael Chang, Mal Washington and Jim Courier.

On the women's side, third-seeded Amanda Coetzer was set to play defending champion Lisa Raymond for the Cellular South Cup title.

Roddick was in full control in his semifinal. He served 14 aces, double-faulted once and didn't give his friend a single opportunity to break him.

Vahaly tried to hold serve to force the tiebreaker in the first set but pushed a forehand wide, then rushed a forehand into the net. He won the next two points with a service winner, then a 116 mph ace only to double-fault and then send a forehand into the net on set point.

Roddick dominated the second set as Vahaly had trouble moving around the court. When the match ended with Roddick breaking Vahaly for the third time, Vahaly quickly grabbed his back and headed to the locker room. He apologized for rushing out without signing autographs.

"It's unfortunate, but I've been throwing up for a good while in the locker room,'' Vahaly said.

Dent entered this week having lost all three of his matches. Now he hasn't lost this week, including four tiebreakers.

Against Spadea, Dent used his big serve to get into and out of trouble. He had 11 aces and his serve reached 132 mph. But he double faulted seven times, including four in the first game of the second set in which he fought off three break points.

Dent led 5-4 in the second when he broke for the only time in that set. Spadea had game point at 40-30 when Dent forced deuce. Then Dent scrambled across court and hit a forehand that Spadea backhanded into the net. Dent won as he scooted a backhand off the net, and Spadea shanked a backhand.

"That's maybe as flawless as he can play,'' Spadea said.