Andy Murray outclasses Andy Roddick to reach Queen's final

Andy Murray gave four-time champion Andy Roddick a grass-court masterclass as he swept past the American in 59 minutes to reach the final of the Aegon Championships.

The British number one produced one of his best ever displays, serving brilliantly and passing at will on his way to a 6-3 6-1 victory at Queen's Club.

Murray is now on the verge of reclaiming the title he won in 2009, with Sunday's final against Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga brought forward to 1200 BST because of the threat of rain.

That was a consideration on Saturday too, but such was Murray's brilliance he was off the court in under an hour with the sun still shining.

"It was one of those days where everything is just sort of going your way," said Murray. "Like if there was a net cord, it would have gone my way today. If he hit a good shot, it would miss by just a little bit.

"Everything I was trying, every passing shot I hit, was always in the right spot. I hardly gave him a chance on anything. Sometimes against Andy you guess on the serves - I guessed right every single time today. I don't really remember him acing me hardly in the match.

"I was just seeing the ball really early, and it's difficult to do that every single day."

Two aces in the opening game set the tone, and he immediately went to work on Roddick's usually fearsome serve, reading it superbly and dictating the rallies with his backhand slice.

There was only one winner in the baseline exchanges, Roddick slicing into the net to give up the break in game two before standing and watching as the Scot fired 12 aces past him in racing through the first set, the last on set point.

If Roddick was banking on a lull in the second set, he was out of luck.

Murray actually raised his level, a forehand cross-court pass and a backhand down the line putting the pressure on Roddick in game one before the American double-faulted and dumped a volley into the net.

The floodgates were now open, with a killer drop shot and a blistering forehand pass giving Murray the double-break at 4-1, two more forehands and a lunging volley making it 5-1.

Roddick was little more than a spectator as the end came racing into sight, apparently asking Murray jokingly to "keep it social" when another forehand flew past him in game seven.

The former world number one briefly prolonged the contest by saving two match points, but could only guide a drop shot tamely into the net on the third to end the Murray demolition job.

Asked afterwards if it was the best Murray had played against him in their 10 meetings, Roddick said: "Oh, yeah, he played great. I felt like I hit the ball well. My serve - I haven't seen it, but I had to be close to 70% [Roddick's actual first-serve percentage was 83%].

"I remember missing one second‑serve return. I felt like I missed a bunch of chips and stuff by an inch or two."

Roddick added: "He's one of the best in the world at taking and controlling paces. He's very good at slow, slow, slow, and then he's able to strike. And he had really good ball control today. I felt like he was working it wherever he wanted to."