Harrison and Isner Clash in Newport Semis; Tipsarevic Survives Stuttgart

By Erik Gudris

Photo Credit: AFP/Patrick Kovarik

(July 13, 2012) -- Top seed and defending champion John Isner got a tougher than expected test in his quarterfinal match today at the Campbell's Hall of Fame Tennis Championships, but he pulled through to reach the semifinals where he will meet a fellow U.S. Olympic team member.

Isner faced South African qualifier Izak van deer Merwe and though the American hit 12 aces, he was pushed to a second set tiebreak before winning 6-4, 7-6(2).

“He mixed up the serve and volleys more than I anticipated," Isner told ATP.com "I thought he was going to do it every time, so that threw me off a little bit. When good servers meet on a court like that, it’s not necessarily going to be so pretty. It was the sort of match I expected."

Isner will now face fellow American Ryan Harrison who took on Germany's Benjamin Becker in the other quarterfinal. Harrison fought off all seven break points against him in the match and was leading 6-4, 3-0 before Becker retired due to injury.

Tipsarevic Saves Four Match Points in Stuttgart

Top seed Janko Tipsarevic managed to save four match points as he got past a determined Bjorn Phau. After taking the first set, Phau served for the match when up 6-5 in the second set but Tipsarevic rallied to win that set and then the match 6-7(6), 7-6(2), 6-4 in just under three hours.

Tipsarevic will next meet Thomaz Bellucci in the semifinals. The other semifinals will see No. 2 seed Juan Monaco take on Spain's Guillermo Garcia-Lopez

Spanish Stars Battle in Quarters of Bastad

In a battle of Spanish veterans at the SkiStar Swedish Open in Bastad, top seed David Ferrer was pushed to three sets by Tommy Robredo in their quarterfinal meeting.

Robredo, who was No. 5 in the world at one point in his career, took the second set off of Ferrer before Ferrer rallied to win 6-3, 4-6, 6-0. Waiting for Ferrer in the semifinals will be Bulgaria's Grigor Dimitrov who reached his second semifinal in three events after he took care of Spain's Albert Ramos 7-6(1), 6-3.

The other semi will feature No. 2 seed Nicolas Almagro, who fought against fellow Spainard Daniel Gimeno-Traver before winning 7-6(5) 4-6, 6-3 in their quarterfinal, against Czech Jan Hajek who reached his first ever ATP Tour semifinal after beating Jurgen Zopp.

Cilic Continues Quest To Win Umag Title

Croatia's own Marin Cilic continued his quest to become the first ever Croatian to win his country's event at the ATP Vegeta Croatia Open Umag.

Cilic eased past American Wayne Odesnik 6-4, 6-0 in the quarterfinals and will next meet No. 3 seed Alexandr Dolgopolov in the semis.

The other semi will feature top seed Fernando Verdasco against fellow Spaniard Marcel Granollers.