beat Marinko Matosevic

ATLANTA -- Top-seeded defending champion John Isner and Jack Sock each rallied Friday in the Atlanta Open to set up an all-America semifinal between the practice partners. Niko Goodrum Jersey . Isner beat Marinko Matosevic 7-6 (8), 6-4 in hot conditions, taking advantage of the Australians mistakes to run his Atlanta record to 14-3. Sock later topped Slovakias Lukas Lacko, 7-6 (6), 6-2 after trailing 3-5 in the first set. In the other quarterfinals, Germanys Ben Becker beat Dutchman Thiemo de Bakker 6-4, 6-2, and Israels Dudi Sela topped fourth-seeded Vasek Pospisil of Vancouver 7-5, 1-6, 6-2. Matosevic and Isner both slowed their pace of play in the second set as temperatures were in the high-80s under a blazing sun. On several occasions, Isner bent over between points to gather himself. "I knew he was struggling out there a little bit, and he knew I was struggling a little bit," Isner said after ending the mid-afternoon match with his 17th ace. "A lot of times in situations like that ... even though I appear to be super tired and I am super tired, I can muster up enough energy to pop some big serves in. "The beginning of that second set it felt like someone put us both in an oven." In the first game, Matosevic broke Isners serve. The defending champion would go on to win a modest 70 per cent of his service games, well below the ATP-leading 93 per cent win rate that he carried into the quarterfinals. Matosevics errors made up for gaps in Isners serves. The Australian sent an overhand smash well long to enable Isner to break serve for a 4-3 lead in the first set, and Matosevic double faulted to hand Isner set point in the 10-8 tiebreaker. Back-to-back double faults gave Isner a 4-3 lead in the second set. "It was just as hot as the 43 Celsius day I played in Australia this year if not hotter," Matosevic said. "(Isner) amped it up, and started serving like 10 mph faster in the second ... it was really, really hot out there." The 21-year-old Sock advanced to his second career semifinal. He made his first two weeks ago by beating Isner in straight sets on grass at Newport. In May, Isner beat Sock in straight sets on clay in Nice, France. They wont need scouting reports. "We practice together almost every day now out at Saddlebrook in Tampa, and so Im going to have to go out and use what I know from practice," Sock said. "These (hard) courts suit him pretty well because its high bouncing and when a 7-foot guy is serving down on you its not going to be easy." Sock teamed with Pospisil three weeks ago to win the mens doubles title at Wimbledon, and the pair will played a doubles match Saturday against Becker and his fellow German Frank Moser before singles play begins later in the afternoon. Rudy York Jersey . Kenny Miller scored from the penalty spot and Camilo Sanvezzo came off the bench to add two late goals as the Whitecaps kept their playoff hopes alive with a 3-0 victory over the sagging Impact on Saturday afternoon. Harold Castro Jersey . The Oilers will try to get back in the win column on Monday when they continue a four-game road trip with a battle against the Buffalo Sabres. Edmonton won its third straight game last Wednesday against visiting San Jose, beating the Sharks 3-0 as Scrivens stopped 59 shots to set an NHL record for saves in a regular-season shutout.SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- Steve Vasturia made sure Notre Dame didnt let Clemson rally back and force a third overtime. The Fighting Irish led most of the way against the Tigers on Tuesday night, going up by as many as nine points early in the second half, by seven points with just under 3 minutes remaining in regulation and by four with 24 seconds left in the first overtime before Vasturia hit two 3-pointers in the second overtime to help Notre Dame pull out the 68-64 victory. "We had it won a couple times, we handed it back a couple times, but found a way to win it," Notre Dame coach Mike Brey said. Clemson coach Brad Brownell blamed his teams offensive struggles. "Were just not as talented offensively as we need to be. Were very inconsistent shooting," he said. Vasturia hit the first 3 to give the Irish a 63-62 lead early then added a second with 62 seconds left that gave Notre Dame a 66-64 lead. Pat Connaughton then added a pair of free throws to help the Irish overcome a career-high 30 points and 14 rebounds by Clemsons K.J. McDaniels. Vasturia said he was open because the Tigers were focusing on Eric Atkins, who hit a game-winning 3-pointer in overtime against Boston College 10 days earlier. "A lot of teams are going to key on Eric just by the way he scores and creates. If we have open looks, were expected to shoot them and were confident we can make them," he said. Atkins said Vasturia, who was 1-of-5 from the field and 0-of-3 from behind the arc heading into the second overtime, showed a lot of confidence. "Hes not scared of the moment and I love that about him," he said. McDaniels said the baskets by Vasturia were key "He hit some big shots, and they were hard to cover. In the end, they came up with some clutch shots," he said. The Fighting Irish (13-12, 4-8 Atlantic Coast Conference) avoided falling below .500 for the first time this late in the season since finishing 14-16 during the 1998-99 season in John MacLeods last year as coach. Brey said the victory was "huge" for the struggling Irish. "We would have been really struuggling if we didnt win this game," he said. Lance Parrish Jersey. . Clemson (15-8, 6-5) lost back-to-back games for just the second time this season. McDaniels said the Tigers need to show the same intensity at the beginning of the game as they did at the end. "Were going to learn from this," he said. Both teams squandered chances to win the game earlier. Rod Hall could have given the Tigers, playing on only a days rest after losing at Syracuse on Sunday, a one-point lead with 4.6 seconds left, but missed the first of two free throws, sending the game into overtime. The Irish opened a 60-56 lead in the first overtime on a three-point play by Connaughton, but couldnt hang on. The Tigers scored two baskets in the final 10 seconds and Landry Nnoko then stole the inbounds pass. After being fouled by Connaughton with 8.4 seconds left, Nnoko, a 57 per cent free-throw shooter, made both to tie the score at 60. After another turnover by Atkins, McDaniels missed a long jumper at the first overtime buzzer. "There were a few times when I looked up at the scoreboard and said, We got this," Atkins said. "Then they made some plays and got a couple of turnovers and they tied it back up again." McDaniels, who also had five blocked shots, was 13-of-24 from the field, while the rest of the Tigers were 11 of 46. The only other Clemson player in double figures was Hall with 12 points. Zach Auguste matched his career-high with 14 points and had a career-high 12 rebounds. Connaughton added 13 points and seven rebounds and Vasturia finished with 11 points. The Irish out-rebounded Clemson 43-40 and had a 30-26 edge in points in the paint. But Clemson forced 12 turnovers and had 16 points off turnovers compared with just two for the Irish. Notre Dame freshman Demetrius Jackson, who has been struggling lately, was not at the game. Brey said he is taking some time off to focus on academics. Brey said Garrick Sherman, Notre Dames leading scorer, may have broken his finger in the first half, although he continued to play. The Irish have now won nine of their last 10 overtime games. ' ' '