Isner among Winston-Salem semifinalists

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WINSTON-SALEM, N.C., Aug. 23 (UPI) -- John Isner, who at No. 10 is the highest-ranked American in the world, reached the semifinals Thursday at the Winston-Salem Open.

The tournament's top four seeds all won their quarterfinal matches, with Isner, seeded third, serving 21 aces while downing David Goffin 7-6 (7-5), 6-3. Isner will face No. 1 seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the semifinals, after Tsonga disposed of Marcel Granollers 6-1, 6-2.

Tsonga recently reached the semifinals at Wimbledon before falling to Andy Murray and then got to the quarterfinals at the Olympics before suffering a loss to Novak Djokovic.

The other semifinal Friday will send No. 2 Tomas Berdych against fourth-seeded Sam Querrey.

Berdych had to rally before downing Steve Darcis 4-6, 6-2, 6-0 and Querrey survived a third-set tiebreak in ousting Alexandr Dolgopolov 7-5, 4-6, 7-6 (7-3).

Isner and Tsonga have met three times in their careers, with Isner holding a 2-1 edge. He defeated Tsonga this year in a Davis Cup match.

It will be the fourth finals appearance for Isner this season. He has one tournament title to his credit this year, that coming in Newport, R.I.