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MASON, Ohio -- John Isners absence from the ATP top 20 will be brief. The 6-foot-10 American made sure of that Saturday, rallying to beat seventh-seeded Juan Martin del Potro 6-7 (4), 7-6 (9), 6-3 in a grueling Western & Southern Open semifinal. Isner, who fell from No. 20 to 22 this week, will return to the top 20 after a stimulating Cincinnati run that includes beating three straight top-10 players for the first time in his career while earning his second Masters 1000 series finals appearance and first in Cincinnati. His previous Masters 1000 final appearance was at Indian Wells in 2012. "Its awesome to be at this stage again," said Isner, who beat top-ranked Novak Djokovic in the quarterfinals and No. 8 Richard Gasquet in the second round. "Ive been playing pretty well this season, but this tournament is where Ive really started to put it all together. Im playing pretty well in all facets of the game." Isner, in his first appearance in the tournaments semifinals, had been 0-4 against the Argentine. Hell play third-seeded Rafael Nadal, who beat sixth-seeded Tomas Berdych 7-5, 7-6 (4) in the other semifinal to reach the tournament final for the first time in nine appearances. "This is one tournament that Ive never been able to play well, so its something special to play well in a place I never did in the past," said Nadal, 3-0 in his career against Isner. "Im very happy for that. I am having the right feelings on court. Im playing aggressive, and the crowd here is great." Nadal extended his personal winning streak against the Czech to 14 matches while improving his overall season record 52-3, including 14-0 on hardcourts. After winning at Montreal last week, the Spaniard will be making back-to-back appearances in hardcourt finals for the first time in his career. Hes 15-1 against top-10 players this season. Top-ranked Serena Williams also will be making her first career appearance in the events championship match after ousting defending champion Li Na, 7-5, 7-5, in the first womens semifinal. Williams, seeking her ninth title of the year, advanced when Li double-faulted on match point. Williams improved to 60-3 this season. "I really would not have predicted myself being in the finals here at all, so its definitely pretty exciting for me," said Williams, who clinched the 2013 Emirates Airline U.S. Open Series womens title with the win and can earn a $1 million bonus if she wins the U.S. Open. "Really unexpected for me, too. I came in here not playing my best, and now Im in the final. Its just almost weird." Williams will play second-seeded Victoria Azarenka in Sundays final. Azarenka beat 14th-seeded Jelena Jankovic 4-6, 6-2, 6-3 in a semifinal that featured 23 service breaks in 27 games. Isner needed 2 hours, 47 minutes to improve to 16-3 since retiring from Wimbledon in the second round because of a left knee injury. He finished off the win when del Potro sent a backhand from the baseline into the net. Despite tossing into a persistent swirling breeze and bright sunshine, both players served so effectively early that the first set included just one break point, fought off by the 22nd-ranked Isner. The 6-foot-6 Del Potro came up with a crucial mini-break on the 11th point of the tiebreaker when Isner sailed his backhand volley wide to lose the set. Del Potro broke Isner in the eighth game of the second set to put himself into position to serve for the match, but he double-faulted on match point and Isner came up with his own break to stay alive and eventually force a tiebreak that he won when del Potro sent a forehand wide to the deuce court. "I think I lost the match in the second set," del Potro said. "That was my chance to beat him. He was fighting all the time and deserved to win the third set, but I missed my chance." "I know, at that moment, that the sun on that side was pretty bad," said Isner, who can become the first American to win the tournament since Andy Roddick in 2006. "We both struggled with that for about 30 minutes." Despite the loss to Nadal, Berdych still will move up a notch in the rankings to a career-high fifth, passing Roger Federer. "That makes it probably even more special," Berdych said. Wholesale Ecco Shoes . -- Al Jefferson found a groove just in time for the Charlotte Bobcats. Cheap Ecco Shoes China . Uniteds eighth defeat of a wretched campaign means Liverpool, which currently occupies the fourth and final Champions League place, could go nine points clear of its fierce rival by beating West Bromwich Albion on Sunday. Charlie Adam scored both of Stokes goals at Britannia Stadium either side of Robin van Persies equalizer, with a miserable day for seventh-place United capped by first-half injuries to centre halves Jonny Evans and Phil Jones that forced them off. http://www.cheapecco.net/ . The 15th-ranked Canadian men lost the opening two games of their European tour: 19-15 to No. 17 Georgia and 21-20 to No. Discount Ecco Shoes Online .C. United of Major League Soccer. United chose the defender in the second round of the 2013 MLS re-entry draft. Cheap Ecco Shoes Online . Hargreaves began his career in 2008 with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and has played with the Edmonton Eskimos and last season with the Saskatchewan Roughriders. It appears that former WWE champion Daniel Bryan, who was forced to retire in February because of concussion-related symptoms, hasnt officially closed the door on making a return to the ring.Bryan, 35, whose real name is Bryan Danielson, has been the center of rumors in recent weeks regarding his status after a fiery confrontation with?The Miz?on Talking Smack, the after-show for SmackDown Live. He appeared on SportsCenters weekly WWE segment, Off the Top Rope, with Jonathan Coachman on Wednesday and spoke candidly about whether he believes hell ever wrestle again.If you were to ask me nine days out of 10, I would say, Absolutely! Bryan said about his desire to return. I keep trying to convince people that Im OK to wrestle, and I think thats probably the hard part. A lot of times Im trying to convince myself, too, that I can wrestle. Its really hard, because the concussion issue is very subjective, and thats the part that a lot of people dont understand.In February, Bryan told Coachman he had suffered 10 documented concussions throughout his career and that it would be difficult to estimate how many more went unreported. He also admitted to hiding post-concussion seizures for years.But Bryan has undergone further testing since his retirement, which he alluded to Wednesday.I was cleared by a lot of concussion specialists, Bryan said. There was one test that kind of flagged me, but then the more I learned about that test, the more I learned, Hey, maybe that shouldnt have stopped me.Theres a lot more than meets the eye to this situation. I feel great, and I feel like every day that I can wrestle. Im doing jiu-jitsu and kickboxing and stuff like that, and I feel 100 percent.Bryan made his return to WWE television in recent months as a color commentator on the WWE Cruiserweight Classic and, most prominently, as the on-screen general manager of SmackDown Live. But it was a heated argument he had with The Miz during an appearance last week on the WWE Networks Talking Smack show that had social media buzzing.@WWEDanielBryan says @MikeTheMiz wrestles like a coward. And the IC Champ explodes on #TalkingSmack! #SDLive https://t.co/hgarcKmuj4- WWE Network (@WWENetwork) August 24, 2016Considering The Mizs use of real-life events surrounding Bryans retirement in his rant, fans were questioning whether portions of the segment were a shoot -- a direct attack on elements of Bryans life. They were also wondering whether it could be the opposite, servving as the beginning of WWE planting seeds, storyline-wise, for Bryans eventual return.ddddddddddddWith Talking Smack, essentially a postgame show for Tuesdays SmackDown Live, featuring a very unscripted and loose feel, Bryan said he knew very little about what The Miz was going to say when he joined the desk backstage.I just knew that Miz was going to come up and we were going to banter back and forth, Bryan said. But Miz and I have known each other for a long time, and we really know how to get at each others nerves. I brought up the idea that he wrestled like a coward. He knows I dont like the way he wrestles. I just dont like it. Its not my thing. And I called him out on that.But when The Miz countered by calling out Bryan for constantly telling fans he would return in the lead-up to his retirement, only to then walk away from the ring for good, Bryan admits his anger was real.He knows thats really pushing on a nerve, Bryan said. And calling me a coward for not doing it -- which I kind of sometimes think of myself as a coward for not doing it -- you know, its tough. Part of me wanted to punch him in the face, but I figured that probably wasnt such a smart idea on live TV.Its fair to question how much of what Bryan himself has said is a work. This is pro wrestling, after all.But, as far as he has said, it seems that WWE has plans to keep him and The Miz away from each other on screen moving forward. He also admitted just how difficult it has been for him to be close to the current product on SmackDown and not be able to competeWhen I go out there, the whole arena is like, Yes! Yes! Yes! and then I just sit in a chair, and I just watch the match, Bryan said. And then I go home to Brie [Bella, his wife] and say, Im going to quit. Im going to go wrestle somewhere. And then she talks me down off the ledge, and Im just like, OK. Ive got to think about her, and we are trying to have a family and that sort of thing. But that part of it is tough.Much of Bryans post-retirement journey has been documented for the new E! series Total Bellas, a spin-off of the reality show Total Divas. Bryan admitted to going through serious heartache and depression during the filming of the show. He was also quite candid about not looking forward to reliving it through his upcoming media obligations ahead of the Oct. 5 premiere. ' ' '