Rainer reigns in a battle of nerves

Rainer Schuettler squeezed every last drop of energy and fight out of Andy Roddick on Friday to reach his first Grand Slam final at the Australian Open with a 7-5, 2-6, 6-3, 6-3 victory. The 26-year-old employed ruthless tactics to smother Roddick’s hopes and set up a clash with second-seeded American Andre Agassi. Schuettler becomes only the second German, behind Boris Becker, to reach the men’s final in the event’s 98-year history.

‘‘Right now it is unbelievable,’’ the 31st seed said, choked with emotion. ‘‘It was a dream and sometimes you have a chance to realise a dream. I have another dream now, to win it.’’ Schuettler knows it will be an uphill struggle against Agassi, who is chasing a fourth Open crown, a record for an overseas player.

Martina-Leander in mixed final

Twenty-eight years after reaching her first Australian Open final, Martina Navratilova on Friday served her way into another. Now a trim, toned 46-year-old, she partnered Leander Paes of India — a one-year-old baby when she lost that final in 1975 to Evonne Goolagong — to reach the mixed doubles championship decider. It was a performance of skill and professionalism and one which rolled back the years. Certainly defending champions Kevin Ullyett and Daniela Hantuchova had no answer to Navratilova and Paes’s court craft and doubles acumen, the sentimental favourites running away with it 6-3, 6-1.

‘‘He kicked my ass already but it is great to be in the final,’’ he told John McEnroe courtside, before laughing and flexing his muscles to the crowd as McEnroe chronicled his progress so far. For Roddick, though, it was a cruel exit from a tournament in which he had burst through barriers and set new marks for courage and determination. Before this event, the American had never come back from two sets down to win a match. In Melbourne he managed it twice. On the second occasion he saved a match point and twice came from a set down to beat Younes El Aynaoui 4-6, 7-6, 4-6, 6-4, 21-19. (Reuters)