Atlanta – Top seed and defending champion John Isner advanced to the Atlanta Open final for the fourth time in the tournament's five-year history by beating practice partner Jack Sock 7-5, 6-4 on Saturday.
Isner will face Israel's Dudi Sela, a 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 winner over Germany's Ben Becker in a night match.
Isner won just two points on Sock's first five service games before digging in, as Sock served at 5-6 to try to force a tiebreaker. In a game that went on for about 14 minutes and reached deuce nine times, Isner took the set when Sock sent a backhand wide.
Serving at 4-5 in the second set, Sock - who three weeks ago teamed with Canadian Vasek Pospisil to win the doubles title at Wimbledon - double-faulted twice, and Isner moved on. – Sapa-AP