Roddick defeats top seed Isner for a place in the final in Atlanta

By Lisa-Marie Burrows

Andy Roddick was delighted to be in the final in Atlanta. (Photo credit: Getty Images)

Atlanta, USA - At the ATP hard court tournament in Atlanta, top seed John Isner and Andy Roddick, seeded number four, created an entertaining match with both players vying to be in the final.  In the end, it was A-Rod, with a photo-finishing win who defeated the top seed 6-4, 6-7, 6-4.

During the first part of the match, the former world number one, Roddick, served very well and made no allowance for his opponent to get a stranglehold on his serve before he eventually closed the first set 6-4.

During the second set, Isner and Roddick battled all the way through to an all-important tiebreak with both players performing equally well and competing on a par with each other.  As per tradition, the tiebreaker is always the chief favorite of the big servers and once again both players did not disappoint, extending the match to the third and final set after Isner won the breaker 7-5.

In the deciding set, both players served well until the tenth game, when Roddick was 15/40 up and closed the contest on the second match point.

In contention for the championship title at the U.S. tournament is Gilles Muller, who beat Go Soeda in the semifinals 6-4 6-3. The Japanese player has progressed well through the tournament after his surprising success against Nishikori, but on Saturday, he failed to oust another higher-ranked player and as a result, bowed out of the tournament.