Andy Roddick broke his record for fastest serve with a 153-mph ace Friday during a 6-3, 6-3 victory over Paradorn Srichaphan at the Queen's Club grass-court tournament.
Roddick served the ace at 1-0, 15-0 in the second set.
"I wasn't trying to hit it any harder than normal and I didn't really realize until the crowd started cheering and I saw Paradorn smiling," Roddick said. "I was surprised because it was against the wind and I didn't think I had that in me."
It's the third time this year Roddick has improved the record. He hit 150 mph in a Davis Cup match against Austria in February, and 152 mph in Davis Cup play against Sweden in April.
"I can't feel the difference between 146 mph and 153," Roddick said. "I can feel when I hit it big, but if you're asking if I know that's it, I have no idea. In my mind, it still counts as just one point in the match. I'm just happy to get through more than I am about hitting a big serve."
Roddick, the top-seeded defending champion at Queens, broke the seventh-seeded Paradorn twice in the opening set. After an exchange of breaks early in the second set, Roddick won four of five games to close out a 66-minute victory.
He faces Lleyton Hewitt in the semifinals. The Australian, a three-time Queen's champion, won the last four games of each set to defeat Russia's Igor Andreev 6-3, 7-5.
WIMBLEDON: Nine-time singles champion Martina Navratilova was awarded a wild card, signaling her return 10 years after she lost to Conchita Martinez in the 1994 final - and 31 years after she made her debut at the All England Club. The 47-year-old Navratilova played singles at the French Open last month, losing a first-round match to Gisela Dulko 6-1, 6-3, leaving her with an 0-3 singles record this year. ... Three-time French Open champion Gustavo Kuerten pulled out because of a hip injury.
GERRY WEBER OPEN: Top-ranked Roger Federer moved into the semifinals with a 6-3, 7-5 victory over Arnaud Clement.
DFS CLASSIC: Third-seeded Maria Sharapova beat Alicia Molik 6-3, 6-1 to reach the semifinals.
EASTBOURNE: French Open champion Anastasia Myskina withdrew from next week's Wimbledon warmup. Defending champion Chanda Rubin and teenager Maria Sharapova also pulled out of the grass-court event.
CYCLING: Armstrong tuning up
Lance Armstrong held onto fourth place overall after the fifth stage of the Dauphine Libere cycling race, a tuneup in his bid for a sixth straight Tour de France title.
Australia's Stuart O'Grady won the 93-mile stage from Bollene to Sisteron in a two-rider sprint to the finish, just beating out George Hincapie. Both clocked 3 hours, 13 minutes, 21 seconds.
CYCLIST DIES: Juan Barrero, a 31-year-old Colombian, was killed when he crashed during the fifth stage of the Tour of Colombia. Barrero suffered serious head injuries after he got tangled up with other cyclists and fell while negotiating a fast downhill curve. He had a cardiac arrest and died while being transported from a small hospital to a larger one.TRACK: Records fall in Norway
Elvan Abeylegesse of Turkey set the women's 5,000-meter world at the Bislett Games, cutting more than three seconds off the previous mark.
Breaux Greer set the American record in the javelin, winning the event with a throw of 286 feet, 8 inches. The mark of 285-10 was set by Tom Puktys in 1997. Greer's previous personal best was 285-5 in 2001. His mark Friday night was the second-longest in the world this year, behind the 287-10 of Alexandr Ivanov of Russia set Tuesday in Ostrava, Czech Republic. Ivanov was fifth at 267-6.
Abeylegesse, who pulled away from the pack with five laps to go, was timed in 14 minutes, 24.68 seconds. Bo Jiang of China had the record of 14:28.09, set in 1997 in Shanghai.
ET CETERA
SWIMMING: Kristy Kowal, a silver medalist in the 200-meter breaststroke in the 2000 Olympics, won the 100-meter breaststroke in the Charlotte UltraSwim with a time of 1 minute, 9.30 seconds. In other women's events, Elizabeth Hill won the 200-meter freestyle in 2:02.46, Liz Warden took the 400 individual medley in 4:47.63 and Demerae Christianson won the 100 butterfly in 59.54. ... In men's events, Vlad Polyakov won the 100-meter breaststroke in 1:04.04; Andrew Hurd won the 200 freestyle in 1:51.53 and Chuck Sayao won the 400 individual medley in 4:25.22. Also, Daniel Cruz won the men's 100 butterfly in 54.62 after favorite Ben Michaelson scratched before the preliminary heats.
HORSE RACING: Monmouth Park is close to landing the 2007 Breeders' Cup. Barring problems in finalizing a contract, the track on the New Jersey shore will be host for the so-called biggest day in thoroughbred racing, a racing executive with the New Jersey Sports & Exposition Authority said.
