Jurgen Melzer, playing with a broken big toe on his right foot, upset top-seed John Isner on Friday in the quarter-finals of the ATP and WTA tournament in Memphis.

The Austrian, who broke his toe a week earlier in his hotel room, beat American Isner 6-3 7-6 (8-6) and in the semi-finals will face Radek Stepanek, a 7-6 (7-5) 6-0 winner over American Sam Querrey.

Defending champion Milos Raonic of Canada also moved into the semi-finals with a 6-3 7-6 (7-3) win over Belgian Olivier Rochus.

Raonic, who has already won two titles this year, will be favourite to win his semi against Germany’s Benjamin Becker, who beat Pole Lukasz Kubot 7-5 7-6 (7-5) later on Friday.

On the women’s side, Marina Erakovic of New Zealand beat Vera Dushevina of Russia 6-1 4-6 6-4 and will play Sofia Arvidsson of Sweden in Saturday’s final. Arvidsson defeated Alberta Brianti of Italy 6-3 7-5.

Arvidsson is a previous winner in Memphis while Erakovic will be looking for her first WTA-level title.

Isner came in as the top seed in a tournament for only the second time in his career. He was 6-2 this year and ranked 13th in the world, and the 6ft 9 American had served up 48 aces while winning his first two matches.

Now, he’s leaving Memphis still looking for his first title of 2012.

“I don’t feel like I lost this match today,” Isner said. “He won it. He was better than me, and he deserved it. He played really well. That’s all there is to it. I just ran up against a guy who’s clicking on all cylinders.”

Melzer has three titles in his career and is working his way back toward a top-10 ranking after back troubles last year. He’s playing well enough this week that not even the toe he caught up in a bedspread is bothering him.

“It’s very nice to beat the top seed, but for me it’s more important that my game is getting better,” Melzer said.

“My body holds up. … I had a lot of troubles with my back last year. It’s nice to be able to play pain-free on the court, putting the toe aside.

“OK, that’s going to heal, and going out there especially when there’s an important point. I have been playing well this week. That’s what made me top 10 in the world and (I’m) trying to do that again.”