Top seed loses out in battle of big-serving Americans
Andy Roddick battled his way into the final of the BB&T Atlanta Open after defeating top seed John Isner 6-4 6-7 (5/7) 6-4 in the last four.
The American veteran set up a Sunday showdown with Luxembourg's Gilles Muller, who was a 6-4 6-3 winner against Go Soeda.
The first five games of Roddick's clash with Isner went with serve before rain forced play to be suspended for 40 minutes, and it was the 2003 US Open champion who came out firing after the break.
Roddick broke the world number 11's serve in the second game back - capitalising on his only break point of the set, while Isner was unable to convert either of the two that came his way.
Isner struggled to make an impression on the Roddick serve in the second set, but the former world number one made no inroads either and a tie-break was needed to separate the players.
Aces
Isner, who sent down a total of 26 aces, came out on top thanks to a couple of powerful forehands in the latter stages, with Roddick showing his frustration by throwing his racquet into the ground after going 3-6 down.
However, he recovered from the disappointment of being taken to a deciding set and broke the Isner serve at 4-5 to clinch the win in two hours 28 minutes on his second match point.
"I'm excited. I have a chance to win my second tournament in three tournaments," Roddick said.
He added of Isner: "I'm going to be real happy to be on the same side with that serve in the Olympics. He's probably the best tie-break player in the world right now. You've got to stay the course a little bit."
Muller had earlier needed just 74 minutes to get past Soeda in straight sets.
The 29-year-old left-hander fired down 17 aces and won 85 per cent of his service points to reach his first ATP Tour-level final since 2005 and keep alive his hopes of a maiden trophy.
