Newport, RI (SportsNetwork.com) - Towering second seed Ivo Karlovic landed in the semifinals, while Nicolas Mahut will not be a repeat champion at the Hall of Fame Tennis Championships.
The 6-foot-10 Croat Karlovic struck nine aces and beat 5-foot-9 Israeli Dudi Sela 7-6 (7-3), 7-5, while Australian Samuel Groth knocked out the fourth- seeded Frenchman Mahut 6-3, 6-4 in Thursday's quarterfinal action on the grounds of the International Tennis Hall of Fame.
Karlovic and Groth will meet in a semi here on Saturday.
The 6-foot-4 Groth is a 26-year-old who was 2-7 in ATP-level matches this year, but is already 3-0 this week.
Mahut defeated two-time runner-up Lleyton Hewitt in last year's Newport finale and was a runner-up at this grass-court event back in 2007.
Friday's other quarterfinals will pit top-seeded two-time champion John Isner against seventh-seeded fellow American Jack Sock and a third-seeded Hewitt versus sixth-seeded American and two-time NCAA singles champ Steve Johnson.
The 2014 Newport titlist will earn $81,500.
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