Top seed and defending champion Andy Roddick moved through to the final of the Kroger St. Jude in Memphis with a 7-5, 6-1 victory over fellow countryman Brian Vahaly.

Roddick, who defeated James Blake in last year's final, will now meet Taylor Dent in this year's championship match after serving 14 aces against Vahaly, losing no points on his serve in the second set.

"I didn't expect to be in the finals after four weeks off, but you just find ways to win matches," said Roddick. "The main priority was to be healthy, so anything after that is a bonus.

"Brian didn't have much to lose. We practice together so we know each other well. I started to loosen up a bit and started to play better. I do better when I don't like someone! So it's tough playing Robby [Ginepri in the semifinals] and Brian."

Sick

Vahaly, playing in his first career ATP semifinal, had been suffering with an illness since his quarterfinal victory over Irakli Labadze, and was sick immediately after the match. The 23-year-old, who reached the quarterfinals in Adelaide in January, tried to get some sugar into his body prior to the match but was feeling the effects of dehydration after a competitive first set against Roddick and could not maintain that level in the second, winning just six points before rushing off court to the locker room.

"I thought Andy played very well throughout the match," said Vahaly. "He dictated play with his serve, which is what I expected. Unfortunately, I did feel a little bit sick. I didn't get to sleep until about 6.30 this morning and still woke up feeling nauseous and sick.
"When I got to the court, I tried to stall it with some Pepsi and Tylonol and tried different ways to get some sugar in me.

" It worked in the beginning of the match, and then for some reason or another, I had some trouble with my depth perception and started to feel nauseous. At the end of the match, I knew I was going to be sick and threw up as soon as it ended. I had to get out of there as soon as it ended and get to the locker room.

Apology

"I apologize to the fans, who have been so good to me and I couldn't even stop to sign autographs. Unfortunately, I've been throwing up quite badly in the locker room. But it was exciting to be in my first ATP semifinal. It's a huge help for my ranking and obviously for my confidence. I have to learn from these guys and see what kind of holes I have in my game."

Roddick, who saved three match points against Hyung-Taik Lee in the second round, will be appearing in his eighth career final (5-2) and his first since losing to Guillermo Canas at the Tennis Masters Toronto.

"There's not going to be a lot of opportunities to break Taylor's serve," said Roddick. "It's going to be a few points here and there. He's going to hit a huge serve and big volleys. I feel like he's been playing better tennis than me this week. But I feel good here, the crowd are great and it's very homey."