Isner and Monaco to meet in Houston final
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John Isner and Juan Monaco each won their semifinal matches on Saturday and will now meet in the final at the U.S. Men's Clay Court Championship.
The second-seeded American Isner hammered 13 aces and saved all eight break chances by Spain's third seed Feliciano Lopez to battle back for a marathon 6-7 (5-7), 7-6 (7-4), 6-3 decision at River Oaks Country Club.
Lopez hit nine aces of his own, but also suffered four double faults in defeat as Isner improved to 7-0 on clay this season.
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An American has now reached the final at this tournament for 11 of the past 12 years, including the last five.
His opponent will be Monaco after the fourth-seeded Argentine outlasted American Michael Russell, 5-7, 6-1, 6-4 in a nearly two and a half hour long match.
After having his serve broken twice while committing two double faults in the first set, Monaco did not face a break chance in the second and smacked two aces in the third set while breaking Russell twice to move on.
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Monaco will be in search of his fifth ATP title, while Isner will be trying for his fourth.
The winner of this $522,000 tournament will collect $71,900.