By Eleanor Preston
Miami - Andy Roddick dismissed fellow American Vince Spadea 6-1 6-3 on Friday to secure a place in the Nasdaq-100 Open final against Argentina's Guillermo Coria.
"I pretty much dominated the match from start to finish, which is what I wanted to do against Vince," Roddick said. "It was a good performance."
Roddick, seeded second, appeared to be able to break the Spadea serve at will early on and was he was barely tested in the first set.
After losing his serve again at the start of the second, the unseeded Spadea battled in vain to keep the scoreline respectable before Roddick wrapped up the match in an hour and five minutes.
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Before running into Roddick, Spadea had won 11 of his last 12 matches and picked up his first ATP tour title in Scottsdale last month at the age of 29, but he was no match for the U.S. Open champion.
"When you get to this stage of the tournament you have to start playing better and better and I didn't come up with a great match tonight," Spadea admitted.
"He was blasting on all his cylinders."
Earlier, third seeded Coria pulled off a miraculous comeback against Fernando Gonzalez, saving four match points to beat the Chilean 4-6 7-6 6-1 and book a place in Sunday's final.
"When I was on court I never gave up, I continued to fight because the match is never over until you shake hands with your opponent," said the Argentine, through a translator.
For all Coria's grit, his win owed plenty to the attack of nerves Gonzalez suffered when he served for the match at a set and 5-4 up. He missed two match points in that game, allowing Coria to level.
"I went on court a little flat because he doesn't give you any rhythm," Coria said.
"Luckily, I was able to react at the right time."
Increasingly Dispirited
Gonzalez seemed to have the match in the palm of his hand again in the second set tiebreak when he mustered another two match points, only to find himself again paralysed by nerves.
He surrendered the set on a double fault and, having been handed a lifeline, Coria ran away with the third set as Gonzalez became increasingly dispirited.
"I know exactly what happened but I'm very disappointed," Gonzalez lamented.
"After four match-points it's tough to come back, especially when you are playing against Guillermo, who is such a good fighter.
"It's the first time it ever happened to me.
"Everybody is nervous but you have to play good when you're nervous. It happens to all of us, and I just hope to get some experience from this."
The 22-year-old Coria, a French Open semifinalist, is better known for his prowess on clay than on hard courts.
Of his seven career titles, six have been on the slower surface - his victory indoors in Basel last October being the exception.
"The guy can play ball regardless of the surface," Roddick said of Coria.
"He's one of the fastest players on the tour; he doesn't give an inch and he's got a great feel for the court. You can't say enough about a guy who's fighter.
"I'm going to have to beat him. He's not going to give me anything, that's for sure."
Roddick has beaten Coria on their two previous meetings, the second coming at last November's Masters Cup event in Houston.
Serena Williams takes on Elena Dementieva in the women's final on Saturday.
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