TENNIS
Isner tops Fritz
Three-time defending champion John Isner beat Taylor Fritz 7-5, 6-4 on Friday night in an all-American match to advance to the BB&T Atlanta Open semifinals. The 6-foot-10 Isner played set up a match with the man who replaced him as the tallest player on the ATP World Tour, 6-foot-11 American teen Reilly Opelka. The top-seeded Isner overpowered the eighth-seeded Fritz with 20 aces to improve to 22-3 in the hardcourt event. The former University of Georgia star has reached the finals five of the previous six years. Opelka, 18, topped seventh-seeded Donald Young 6-4, 6-4 in another all-American match to reach his first tour semifinal. "I've been doing a really good job with my movement, winning points on my opponent's serve," Opelka said. "The way I am serving now, I know I can at least get to a tie-break. But being able to hit good returns and passing shots is huge." In the other semifinal, second-seeded Nick Kyrgios of Australia will face Japan's Yoshihito Nishioka. Kyrgios beat fifth-seeded Fernando Verdasco of Spain 6-4, 6-7 (5), 6-3, and Nishioka topped Argentina's Horacio Zeballos 6-4, 6-4 to reach his first tour semifinal. "I've been working on my serve a lot. More percentage, more power," the 20-year-old Nishioka said. "And before I was very emotional, throwing rackets and getting frustrated. But I've been more calm since Wimbledon. I think that's why I'm winning more now." Kyrgios won in Marseille, France, in February for his lone tour title.
BASKETBALL
Rodman talks to kids
Dennis Rodman surprised members of an Atlantic City, N.J., youth club on Friday, and urged the youngsters to listen to their parents and seize their opportunities. The Basketball Hall of Famer watched children play basketball at the Boys and Girls Club of Atlantic City and spoke to a crowd of more than a hundred. He answered questions about his career and took group pictures in the club's basketball arena. One child asked if Rodman was still friends with Michael Jordan. Rodman said yes. "How many times have I been to jail? A lot. How many times did I make the NBA? Once. And what the hell did I do with it? That's why I'm here today, famous, and doing my job," Rodman said. Rodman and co-author Dustin Warburton distributed copies of his 2013 children's book, Dennis the Wild Bull, for all those present and signed several dozen copies that will be given out at random. The book tells in rhyme the story of a wild bull who is captured by a rodeo, but escapes with the help of other bulls. Rodman said he wants the book to send the message to kids that it's OK to be different and to feel comfortable in your own skin. "He makes you want to try harder, like if you ever gave up or something, he makes you want to try harder," said Myles Aikens, 13, an eighth-grader from Atlantic City.
MOTOR SPORTS
Truex extends deal
Martin Truex Jr. said he's right where he wants to be with Furniture Row Racing. "When I first went there I was like, 'Hey, this is a pretty good option. It's my only option, but it's a pretty good one,' " Truex said Friday, a day after he signed a two-year extension with Furniture Row. "We kind of got brought together by fate and it's interesting that it worked out that way. It's just been I feel like a continuing trend of getting better and better and better." Truex arrived at Furniture Row -- a single-car team based in Denver -- after Michael Waltrip Racing dissolved in 2014. He made the Chase in 2015 and was one of the final four drivers still in contention for the title at the season's final race at Homestead-Miami Speedway. "The whole process is how we make this thing work and keep it going and just see where it takes us," Truex said. "The last couple years have been so good, it's hard not to see it through to the end of the road and see where we end up."
Sports on 08/06/2016