John Isner stays on course for third straight Atlanta Open crown
Saturday 1 August 2015 08:28, UK
John Isner maintained his bid for a third straight ATP Atlanta Open crown with a 7-6 (7-5) 6-4 quarter-final win over Lithuania's Ricardas Berankis.
The top-seed blasted 19 aces and converted his lone break-point chance to ease past his opponent in one hour 21 minutes and book a semi-final clash with American compatriot Denis Kudla
Kudla sealed his last-four spot with a 7-5 6-0 win over Israel's Dudi Sela. The other semi-final will pit fifth-seeded Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis against seventh-seeded Gilles Muller of Luxembourg.
Baghdatis upended second-seeded Canadian Vasek Pospisil 6-4 7-6 (7-5) to reach his third semi-final of the season while Muller dispatched Japan's Go Soeda 7-5 6-1.
"He's very solid," Isner said of Kudla. "He returns really well. He's quick. The best part of his game is that he stays very composed out there and doesn't let things rattle him too much. It's paying dividends.
"He's working really hard and he's very young too, so he's got a great future ahead of him. Me being the elder statesman tomorrow, I need to show him no mercy."
