It is a case of not if, but when, Andy Murray wins a grand slam tennis tournament. The words belonged to Andy Roddick last night, after he had made sure that it certainly wouldn't be happening in this year's Wimbledon.

It is a case of not if, but when, Andy Murray wins a grand slam tennis tournament. The words belonged to Andy Roddick last night, after he had made sure that it certainly wouldn't be happening in this year's Wimbledon.

The world No.6 insisted that his 6-4, 4-6, 7-6, 7-6 victory over the Scot in yesterday's SW19 semi-final was one of the finest performances of his entire career, and it was only "a matter of time" before the 22-year-old from Dunblane joined him on the list of grand slam winners.

"He's going to break through and win one of these titles, and probably numerous ones," Roddick, a former US Open winner, said last night. "He's too good not to. In my mind its a matter of time. It's not if, but when.

"Overall this result is certainly up there," the 26-year-old added. "Playing a player of his rank, his calibre, in this kind of atmosphere. He was certainly in form going into the match. I had to play my best tennis to win."

Murray's demise was the big news last night for a home audience desperate for the first British winner of the men's final since Fred Perry back in 1936, but Roddick's renaissance was a good story in its own right. Only 12 months ago, he slunk out of SW19 with his tail between his legs after a second-round defeat to Janko Tipsarevic. There then followed some crisis talks with his new wife Brooklyn Decker.

But after hooking up with Tim Henman's former coach Larry Stefanki, the Texan can now look forward to the fifth grand slam final of his career on Sunday. He will face Roger Federer, who has beaten him in his two previous Wimbledon finals.

"You don't go back to a Wimbledon final by accident," Roddick insisted. "It certainly is a process. And it has probably been a longer process than I would have liked. I've certainly got the sense that Larry believed we could get back to this point. That was large.

"But last year was a hard couple of weeks," he recalled. "Brook and I had a lot of talks on if I still thought I could play and at least be towards the top of the game.

I definitely openly questioned it at that point. She didn't know that much about tennis so she thought I was playing real great."

His victory over Murray was built on the back of a better first-serve percentage, and executing better on the big points. Roddick last night chose a poker analogy.

"I was able to come into the net 68 times," he said. "It wasn't all in on a pair of twos. I felt like I was doing the right things and picking the right shots. That is an encouraging sign for me."

He refuted the fact he would be happy just to make the final, his first grand slam showpiece since the 2006 US Open. "That's never really been my MO modus operandi. You know that won't be the case. It's too close."