Journeymen and rising stars often sink into a lull after their most significant breakthroughs.  Steve Johnson avoided that tennis version of a hangover, however, by notching yet another victory at Delray Beach.

A qualifier ranked outside the top 100, Johnson had recorded the best win of his career so far when he upset Tommy Haas in the second round.  Many players would have rested content with that victory and lost focus for their next match.  In contrast, Johnson cruised past another seeded veteran in Feliciano Lopez to reach the semifinals.  This Spanish lefty had rallied from losing the first set to defeat each of his two previous opponents.  When he lost the first set again, Lopez cannot have felt concerned.

Johnson did not let the Spaniard regroup at that stage, merely tightening his control over the match in the second set.  He did not face a break point in the 6-3 6-2 victory, his fifth straight at Delray Beach.  Up next for Johnson is tall South African Kevin Anderson, who once played NCAA tennis at the University of Illinois.  A former member of the UCLA tennis team, Johnson won their only previous meeting at Auckland last month.  If he prevails again, a trip to his first ATP final awaits.

Top-ranked American man John Isner won the title at that small tournament in Auckland and now seeks his second straight final at a non-major.  His path has not unfolded smoothly at any stage despite his No. 2 seed.  Dropping the first set in all three of his matches, Isner seemingly has needed time to find the range on his serve.  He did not hover as close to disaster on Friday as he had on Thursday, cruising through the last set and a half against qualifier Rhyne Williams.  But Isner donated a careless service game at 4-4 in the first set that dug him a hole against this compatriot.

The towering home hope cannot afford such carelessness on Saturday.  Isner will face one of the hottest players in tennis this month, Marin Cilic, who owns a less impenetrable serve but steadier baseline weapons.  Cilic not only won his home title in Zagreb two weeks ago but reached an ATP 500 final in Rotterdam last week, defeating the likes of Grigor Dimitrov and Juan Martin del Potro.  He has transitioned expertly from indoor to outdoor hard courts.  Through his first three matches, Cilic has not lost more than four games in a set.

Cilic has won all three of his previous meetings with Isner, but six of their last seven sets have reached 6-6.  Isner will fancy his chances if he reaches a tiebreak at Delray Beach, where he already has won two tiebreaks.  That poise under pressure might help him against an opponent who has faced scant pressure recently.