Top seed Andy Roddick won an explosive showdown with three-times former winner Lleyton Hewitt 7-6, 6-3 on Saturday to hurtle into the final of the Stella Artois tennis championships.

In a repeat of last year's final, the American champion will meet France's Sebastien Grosjean, who ended the run of South Korean qualifier Lee Hyung-taik 6-7, 7-6, 6-2.

"It feels like deja vu I guess," Roddick said after setting up the re-match with fifth seed Grosjean.

"He's a very dangerous player and there's not a whole lot he doesn't do well. There are no glaring holes in his game."

Roddick twice equalled his own service record, set during Friday's quarter-finals, with 153-mph (246.2-kph) deliveries as he fired his 13th and 15th aces of the match past Hewitt in the second set.

Australian Hewitt, who had won all three of the duo's previous three meetings, should have captured the first set as he attempted to serve for it at 5-4, having broken Roddick in the fifth game.

However, he failed to hang on to the advantage and let a setpoint slip from his grasp in the tiebreak.

Roddick kept up the pressure from the baseline and bagged the breaker 9-7 after forcing his opponent to miscue a service return.

Hewitt's last victory over Roddick had been in the 2001 U.S. Open quarter-finals and the sixth seed was well aware that he was facing a different kind of opponent on Saturday.

"I felt I was the better player in the first set and should have won it," Hewitt said. "But he obviously became the better player once he had won that first set."

In the second, Hewitt wilted under the barrage of shots as Roddick took his ace tally to 15 and easily outclassed the player who had won a hat-trick of titles here between 2000-2002.

A double fault on match point summed up Hewitt's miserable day as he bowed out after 74 minutes.

WIMBLEDON PREPARATION

Grosjean had not dropped a set in the tournament before running into Lee and was clearly relieved to have staged a comeback after finding himself a set and 4-1 down on Saturday.

"I tried to play all the points and not give up," said Grosjean.

"On grass it can turn around so fast. I knew he was playing so well but I tried not to have any fear and continued to attack the short balls.

"Being in the final is great for me and wonderful preparation for Wimbledon."

Grosjean dominated much of the first set but, after he had dropped just two points in his first four service games, his game disintegrated when he attempted to serve for the set at 5-4.

With dark clouds hovering over centre court, Lee displayed his unwavering nerve and pounced on his opponent to break for 5-5 with a stinging forehand crosscourt winner.

The 99th-ranked Lee made Grosjean look ordinary in the tiebreak.

As a scampering Grosjean fired a forehand wide, Lee sealed the breaker 7-4 before compounding the Frenchman's despair by galloping into a 4-1 lead in the second set.

The 26-year-old Grosjean's fighting instincts finally kicked in and he recovered to level the contest 7-3 in the tiebreaker after 101 minutes of see-saw action.

Lee, who was bidding to become the first qualifier to reach the final here since Laurence Tieleman achieved the feat six years ago, ran out of ideas in the deciding set and bowed out after two hours 18 minutes when he slammed a forehand long.