Big win for Andy Roddick and disappointment for a gracious Hewitt [GALLO/GETTY]

When it was over, having finally figured out a way to get past Hewitt 6-3, 6-7 (10), 7-6 (1), 4-6, 6-4, Roddick let out a sigh and raised a fist, then threw his racket down, sat in his changeover chair and covered his face with his hands.

Big relief

"A mixture of happiness, of relief.

"In your mind, you're kind of trying to stay the course for four hours, constantly figuring out what you're going to do,'' said Roddick, who smashed 43 aces in Wednesday's quarterfinals at the All England Club.

"Your mind is just racing.''

Roddick has not been to the final four at Wimbledon since 2005; he lost in the second round a year ago.

He had not won a five-setter at any Grand Slam tournament in 2½ years. But Roddick came through in the crunch, saving three break points while trailing 2-1 in the fifth set, before earning the decisive break in a 14-point game to go ahead 5-4.

"It's going to pay big dividends, winning a tight match like this,'' said Roddick's coach, Larry Stefanki.

"He hasn't done that in a long time.''

Roddick-Hewitt was the only quarter-final pitting two men who have been ranked No1, and the only one involving two men who have won a major championship.

It also was the most riveting contest, not to mention the longest.

"It certainly wasn't short on drama,'' Roddick said.

"It was tough from a mental standpoint, because Lleyton wasn't going away, and there were kind of a lot of ebbs and flows.''

Next up for the No. 6-seeded Roddick: a semi-final against No. 3 Andy Murray, who beat 2003 French Open champion Juan Carlos Ferrero 7-5, 6-3, 6-2.

Lleyton Hewitt battled hard as the shadows fell at Wimbledon [GALLO/GETTY]

Murray is trying to become the first British man to win Wimbledon since Fred Perry in 1936, so he will be backed by quite a crowd in what the locals will bill as "Andy vs. Andy.''

"We might be able to count the people for me on this hand,'' Roddick said, raising his right mitt.

"I'm just going to pretend when they say, 'Come on, Andy!' that they mean me.''

Roddick's only major championship came at the 2003 US Open.

In trying to add a second, he recently tweaked his diet, says he is in the best shape of his career and has tinkered with his game since hiring Stefanki for this season, working on returns, volleying and backhands.

Those elements helped against Hewitt, who toughed things out on Wednesday despite a bothersome left thigh.

Roddick started close to perfectly, making one unforced error in the opening set. He won 20 of 26 points on his serve in that set, and also received a bit of a gift from Hewitt, who double-faulted twice in a row to get broken in the second game.

But in the match's first tiebreaker, Roddick blew a 5-2 lead, then three set points. He also wasted a 2-0 lead in the fourth set.

"A lot of chances to hang his head,'' Stefanki noted. "He didn't.''

Trailing 2-1 in the fifth, Roddick saved one break point with a 126 mph ace, and another thanks to what he called "probably the best half-volley I've ever hit in my life.''

At 4-all, Roddick fended off three game points for Hewitt, then converted a break point with a forehand passing shot.

"We were giving everything we had out there,'' Hewitt said.