Wimbledon Betting / Editor / 18 June 2007 /

Andy Roddick fired a warning to his rivals ahead of Wimbledon by defeating Nicolas Mahut to secure a fourth Artois Championship title.

The 24-year-old American world number five looked like he would be the next top player to fall victim to the Frenchman, who is ranked 106 in the world, when he lost the first set at Queen's Club.

He then survived a match point in the second set before winning it on a tie-break and then emulated the feat in the deciding set, to take the title 4-6 7-6 (9-7) 7-6 (7-2).

Roddick is now set to be one of the main challengers to world number one Roger Federer going into Wimbledon, which gets underway next Monday, June 25.

He told BBC Sport: "In terms of preparation for Wimbledon, I could not have asked for any more.

"But Nicolas made me dig really deep. He was outplaying me for most of the match, I had to keep fighting and I was able to get a bit lucky.

"If he keeps playing like that, he will be up there (near the top of the rankings) in no time."

The win also sees Roddick overtake his coach Jimmy Connors' record at Queen's following his wins there in 1972, 1982 and 1983.

Roddick is now the third favourite for the Wimbledon crown, with the two-time runner-up trading at 19 to win the third Grand Slam of the year. Roger Federer remains the firm favourite, with the world number one on offer at 1.49.

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