Roddick, Isner To Meet In Blockbuster SF

© Getty ImagesJohn Isner came from a set down to defeat Marcos Baghdatis.

Longtime American favourite Andy Roddick will meet hometown hero John Isner in a blockbuster Winston-Salem Open semi-final after their respective victories over Juan Monaco and Marcos Baghdatis Thursday.

Former World No. 1 Roddick takes a 3-1 career lead into the match, having beaten his countryman most recently in straight sets at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian wells this season. Isner’s lone victory over Roddick was a memorable one, a five-set thriller in the third round of the 2009 US Open.

Looking ahead to the clash, Roddick said, "You can have a game plan, but it’s a lot tougher to execute. A lot of times it’s out of your hands and it’s completely different from the matches I’ve played so far. It’s just whoever can scrape a return back on a big point and hope that something good happens. The biggest thing is you’ve just got to try and take care of your own serve. I don’t often go into a match with the second-best serve, but that will be the case tomorrow."

Roddick secured his place in the last four at the inaugural edition of the ATP World Tour 250 hard-court tournament as he dismissed the seventh-seeded Monaco 6-1, 6-4.  For the third match in a row, the top seed did not face a break point, surrendering only nine points on serve in total, and converted three of his five chances on Monaco’s serve to claim victory in 66 minutes.

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The fourth-seeded Isner was made to work harder for his semi-final berth. He fought back from a set down to defeat former World No. 8 Baghdatis 1-6, 6-3, 6-4. Ironically, having also played each other recently in the Montreal first round, the two will meet again next week in the first round of the US Open.

"It was the second time I’ve played him this summer and I’ve had good success," said Isner. "For sure I don’t give any players rhythm because on my serve I’m keeping the points short. I think a lot of the guys like rhythm and Marcos is one of the guys. When he gets into a groove from the baseline, that’s when he plays well and has good results."

The 28-year-old Roddick declared on Wednesday that he felt he was coming back into form after an injury-blighted summer, and will look to reach his third ATP World Tour final of the season. He won his 30th tour-level title in Memphis (d. Raonic) and finished runner-up in Brisbane (l. to Soderling).

Isner, 26, is through to his fourth semi-final of the summer. Since Wimbledon, the Greensboro native has put together a 15-4 mark, winning his second career title in Newport (d. Rochus), reaching the final in Atlanta (l. to Fish), and making a semi-final showing in Washington D.C. (l. to Monfils).