Roddick sets up Isner clash

John Isner and Andy Roddick will face each other in thr semi-finals of the ATP BB&T Atlanta Open after comfortable quarter-final wins.

Roddick, who is seeded fourth at the event, was far too good for fellow US star Michael Russell, coming through 6-3 6-4 to advance to the last four, while giant star Isner overcame 19-year-old wild card Jack Sock 7-6 (9/7) 6-4 after a rain delay.
Both Roddick and Isner possess huge serves and Saturday's semi-final will not be one for the purists, with the ace count likely to be well into double figures for both players.
Breaks of serve will be few and far between but Isner will be thankful that the match can be decided on tie breaks and he will not face the prospect of having to play a marathon final set like at Wimbledon 2010, when he needed a record-breaking 138 games to get past Nicolas Mahut in the fifth set.
While Roddick is not the player he was, he has shown signs in recent months that he is not finished at the top level, with victory in Eastbourne, and it should be a hard-fought clash in Georgia on Saturday.
The 29-year-old engineered four break points in his quarter-final and took two and that was all he needed to give himself a chance of winning another title.
The other semi-final will see Luxembourg's Gilles Muller, who beat Australia's Matthew Ebden 6-4 6-4, face Japan's Go Soeda, who hammered compatriot Kei Nishikori, pulling off a 6-2 6-1 triumph on Friday.