<p class="title">American John Isner showed why he is playing some of the best tennis of his career, beating Mischa Zverev 7-5, 4-6, 6-1 in the quarterfinals of the Atlanta Open.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Isner needed one hour and 37 minutes on Stadium Court to oust Zverev and reverse a run of defeats to the seventh-seeded German.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Zverev had won all three of his matches against Isner last year. But the 33-year-old Isner has been rising up the rankings as he levelled their career head-to-head rivalry at 3-3.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"It was a weird match. The balls were bouncing everywhere, it was tough to control. I was happy to get through in three sets," Isner said.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The 6-foot-10 Isner is at number nine in the ATP world rankings. He reached a career-best No. 8 last week after making it to the semis of Wimbledon. Isner will next face fourth seed Matthew Ebden, who breezed past Marcos Baghdatis 6-3, 6-2 in one hour, 12 minutes.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The Aussie is into his second semifinal of the season, following a run to the final four at the Libema Open.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Isner is now two victories from winning his second title of the year. The match shaped up to be a service battle as both players needed just a break each to split the first two sets.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Isner ended up losing just two points (38/40) on his first serve and this was the fourth straight contest they went to a deciding set.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Ebden, 30, has not dropped a set this week, saving the only break point he faced to eliminate Baghdatis.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Isner has won three of his four career matches against Ebden, but the Aussie defended his home turf with a four-set victory at this year's Australian Open.</p>.<p class="bodytext">In the other quarterfinals, Ryan Harrison outlasted Chung Hyeon 6-7 (3/7), 6-2, 7-6 (7/5) and Cameron Norris was leading 7-5, 3-0 in the second set when Nick Kyrgios retired due to a left hip problem. </p>
<p class="title">American John Isner showed why he is playing some of the best tennis of his career, beating Mischa Zverev 7-5, 4-6, 6-1 in the quarterfinals of the Atlanta Open.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Isner needed one hour and 37 minutes on Stadium Court to oust Zverev and reverse a run of defeats to the seventh-seeded German.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Zverev had won all three of his matches against Isner last year. But the 33-year-old Isner has been rising up the rankings as he levelled their career head-to-head rivalry at 3-3.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"It was a weird match. The balls were bouncing everywhere, it was tough to control. I was happy to get through in three sets," Isner said.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The 6-foot-10 Isner is at number nine in the ATP world rankings. He reached a career-best No. 8 last week after making it to the semis of Wimbledon. Isner will next face fourth seed Matthew Ebden, who breezed past Marcos Baghdatis 6-3, 6-2 in one hour, 12 minutes.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The Aussie is into his second semifinal of the season, following a run to the final four at the Libema Open.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Isner is now two victories from winning his second title of the year. The match shaped up to be a service battle as both players needed just a break each to split the first two sets.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Isner ended up losing just two points (38/40) on his first serve and this was the fourth straight contest they went to a deciding set.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Ebden, 30, has not dropped a set this week, saving the only break point he faced to eliminate Baghdatis.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Isner has won three of his four career matches against Ebden, but the Aussie defended his home turf with a four-set victory at this year's Australian Open.</p>.<p class="bodytext">In the other quarterfinals, Ryan Harrison outlasted Chung Hyeon 6-7 (3/7), 6-2, 7-6 (7/5) and Cameron Norris was leading 7-5, 3-0 in the second set when Nick Kyrgios retired due to a left hip problem. </p>