Defending Champion Raonic Into Semis

© SAP Open/Mike RhodesRyan Harrison on his way to a third ATP World Tour semi-final.

Unseeded Denis Istomin advanced to the semi-finals of the SAP Open following an impressive serving display to defeat second-seeded American Andy Roddick 6-2, 6-4 on Friday in San Jose.

World No. 61 Istomin, whose last Top 20 win came in the second round of the Hamburg bet-at-home Open in July 2010 (d. No. 18 Almagro), won 78 per cent of points on first serve and 81 per cent on second serve to advance in 76 minutes. The Uzbekistani is seeking his first ATP World Tour title and is through to the last four in San Jose for the second time, having fallen to Fernando Verdasco in 2010.

"I really like the court here. It’s good for my game,” said Istomin. "He’s a former No. 1 [and] very difficult to play against. I’m working hard to get the best ranking. I just try to win every match and hope to be healthy."

World No. 17 Roddick was full of praise for his lower-ranked opponent. "He played better than I did in every aspect. He played well. I was hoping to be able to serve my way into it. That didn’t work. From there, it was tough," he said.

Big-serving Canadian Milos Raonic fired 16 aces in a 7-5, 7-6(3) win over No. 6 seed Kevin Anderson from South Africa.

"Obviously, my job was to take care of my serve. That's the most important thing," said Raonic."If you fall behind, it's easy for him to close out the set. It's a straining match, but at the same time you just have to be patient."

No.3 seed Raonic, who opened the season by capturing his second ATP World Tour title at the Aircel Chennai Open (d. Tipsarevic), won the first meeting between the pair in one hour and 42 minutes. The World No. 32 is now 6-0 lifetime in San Jose, having won the ATP World Tour 250 event on his debut in 2011.

"I've really tried to treat it as much as I can like another tournament," continued Raonic. "Obviously, coming somewhere where you are defending, there are a few more media obligations. But outside of that, you don't really notice any difference from any other event unless you want to make it that way. I've tried to clear my mind about it and treated every match as if it's another match."

American Ryan Harrison moved into his third ATP World Tour semi-final (all in the US) with victory over Bulgarian qualifier Dimitar Kutrovsky 6-1, 6-4. The 19-year-old American is the first teenager to reach the semi-finals in San Jose since Andy Murray (19) won the title five years ago.

World No. 94 Harrison, who finished a year-end best No. 79 in 2011, won 79 per cent of his first service points and converted four of his eight break point opportunities for victory in 62 minutes in the first meeting between the pair.

"I’m definitely happy. I started out really well," said Harrison. "Whenever you win a set that comfortably, it’s only going to get better for him in the second set. It was pretty comfortable. Obviously, it could have gone either way there at the end. But I was excited to get through."

Elsewhere, No. 5 seed, and SAP Open debutant, Julien Benneteau won 88 per cent of first service points to beat Belgian World No. 72 Steve Darcis 3-6, 6-1, 6-2 in one hour and 29 minutes.

The 30-year-old Frenchman, finalist at the Apia International Sydney 2012 (l. Nieminen), faces Istomin for a place in the final.

"It’s a good start, for sure. I’m very happy to be back in the semi-finals again on the tour," said Benneteau. "It’s going to be tough tomorrow because he plays very good on this kind of surface. He had a good match today to beat Andy Roddick. If I keep my aggressive play, I [will] have my chances. I will look forward to doing that."

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