2007年VOA标准英语-Roddick, Isner Advance at Legg Mason Tennis Cla

Top seed Andy Roddick and American rookie John Isner have reached the semifinals of the Legg Mason Tennis Classic¹ hard court tournament here in Washington. As VOA's David Byrd reports, Roddick faces Ivo Karlovic of Croatia while Isner plays France's Gael Monfils.

Andy Roddick returns a shot against Hyung-Taik Lee of South Korea during a match in the Legg Mason Tennis Classic, 3 Aug. 2007

Roddick scored a straight-sets win over South Korea's Lee Hyung-taik, 7-6, 6-2, the American's 10th win against one loss against the Korean.

In the semifinals, Roddick plays Ivo Karlovic of Croatia, who scored a three-set win over Paul Capdeville of Chile, 4-6, 6-3, 7-6. Roddick says that playing Karlovic is always a challenge.

"With him it is difficult because some times you can play well and lose and sometimes you can play badly and win," he explained.  "With a guy who has a weapon like him, and his serve, it is a little bit of a crap shoot sometimes.  I think you just have to be mentally ready when and if you get a chance."

All-time, Roddick has a 2-1 record against Karlovic.

Isner, whose first professional match was less than a month ago, fired 30 aces² and 23 service winners to beat German Tommy Haas in three sets, 6-4, 6-7, 7-6. The American, who stands two meters, five centimeters tall, says he is enjoying the tournament.

"To tell you the truth, I am not that nervous out there because I know no matter what I have nothing to lose out there," he said.  "If I go down 7-6 in the third, then I lost 7-6 in the third to the number 10 player in the world or whatever. So I am just enjoying the moment."

In Saturday's semifinals, Isner will play Frenchman Gael Monfils, who ousted³ third seeded Marat Safin of Russia in straight sets, 6-3, 7-5.

The tournament is part of the U.S. Open series, a string of events players are using to prepare for the last major tournament of the year, the U.S. Open, which starts later this month in Flushing⁴ Meadows⁵, New York.