For the first time since 1998 the top four seeds in the Regions Morgan Keegan Championships have advanced to the semifinals at the Racquet Club of Memphis. It is also the first time since Roland Garros in June last year the top four seeds have advanced to the semifinals in an ATP level tournament.

Top seed and 2002 champion Andy Roddick saved four second set points en route to a 6-4, 7-6(7) victory over Yen-Hsun Lu of Chinese Taipei in the final quarterfinal on Friday. Roddick fired 18 aces and trailed 3-6 and 6-7 in the tie-break before coming back to win. Roddick improved his career record to 20-4 in Memphis by reaching the semifinals for the fourth time. Roddick will take on Andy Murray for the second consecutive week in the semifinals. Last week Murray won 7-6(8), 6-4 in the SAP Open in San Jose en route to the title.

"It was tough. I mean he was playing well and I wasn’t for stretches," said Roddick. " It was pretty frustrating. It’s a frustrating dynamic to feel like you’re on the verge of playing well but you’re not quite there and that’s kind of what I’ve been battling the last two weeks. I’m just trying to survive in these tournaments and give myself another chance to play well."

"I feel like I’m striking the ball well but I just don’t know if I’m constructing points. I don’t know if it’s one thing or another. Last week and for the early part of this week I was returning well and hitting my backhand well and today I returned terrible and hit my backhand terrible and hit my forehand well. If I could just get all those things to click it would be a lot better."

On playing Murray again, he said, "He’s tough and he’s playing with a lot of confidence right now. I’m going to have to turn the corner for the better if I want to get out with a win. Andy’s a tough opponent because he plays defense so well and he’s not as affected by pace. He moves well and he hasn’t played himself out of points. He’s a tough guy and I made way too many errors last week (in San Jose) to really even deserve to be close. I definitely have to tighten it up a notch and not give away freebies."

Second-seeded and defending champion Tommy Haas needed only 44 minutes to defeat American wild card Sam Querrey 6-2, 6-2, on Friday in the quarterfinals. Haas improved to a career-best 13-2 start on the season and it was the third straight match he has not faced a break point. The 28-year-old German will take on No. 4 seed Mardy Fish in the semifinals.

"Yesterday was a tough match with Amer Delic and I didn’t really have an opportunity to break him," said Haas, who is 24-6 lifetime in Memphis. "Today I didn’t think it was going to be an easy match but I was reading his serve well and playing good tactics against him and being very solid. I’ve been solid all week since I’ve been here and if I play like that I think I’m going to be tough to beat."

On facing Fish for the fourth time (leads 2-1), Haas added, "Mardy has been playing well the last five or six months which is nice to see after being out of the tour for a long time. I can always relate to people with injuries who come back and do well because I was there once. I served great today and I didn’t lose a point on my serve and that’s been the case the whole tournament so hopefully I can keep it going."

Third-seeded Andy Murray improved his match record to 15-2 on the season with his career-best eighth straight match victory as he defeated Austrian Stefan Koubek 6-3, 6-2 in 61 minutes. Murray converted three of five break points and never lost his serve (saving both break points). The 19-year-old British No. 1 is looking to reach back-to-back ATP finals for the first time in his career. Last week he defended his title in San Jose.

"This is the best match I’ve played so far," said Murray. "I hit the ball really well from the ground and didn’t make too many unforced errors. I took my chances when I had them and served really well today. That’s two matches in a row where I haven’t dropped my serve and that’s a really good run to be on. I’m going to need to serve well in my next match."

Fish upped his match record to 12-3 on the season by advancing to his fourth quarterfinal (or better) in as many tournaments. He fired 11 aces and won 19 of 19 first set points en route to a 6-2, 4-1 retired victory over Russian qualifier Teimuraz Gabashvili. The Russian retired due to stomach illness. Fish has only been broken once in his first three matches (vs. Phau in the first round).

Fish said, "I didn’t know he was sick or anything. It really didn’t look that way to me in the first set, first set and a half and all of a sudden he called the trainer but I felt like I had the match pretty much in my grasp. I’ve played three matches now where I was the favorite. I’d like to be the underdog for once, a little different role."

About Haas, Fish added, "He excels in his ground strokes. He’s got some of the best ground strokes in the world, Roger Federer included."