All knees and elbows, 6-foot-9 John Isner gangled out of obscurity and all the way to the finals of the 2007 Legg Mason Tennis Classic, captivating fans with his sky-hook serve and toothy, carefree composure.

He’s back this year, and, oh yeah, so is last year’s champion Andy Roddick, who seemed happy to be upstaged on his way to his third win in Washington in seven years.

With this year’s Legg Mason running concurrently with the Olympics, the tournament has been trimmed by one round and the field is watered down.

But, in addition to last year’s finalists, there still are intriguing players in the main draw including former No. 1 Marat Safin, who made a surprising run to the Wimbledon semifinals; 19-year-old Juan Martin del Potro of Argentina, who won back-to-back ATP titles in Europe last month; 18-year-old American Donald Young, the youngest player among the world’s top 100; as well as Mardy Fish, Feliciano Lopez, and Tommy Haas.

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The big dog, of course, is Roddick, the world’s only top 10 player not in Beijing. Roddick’s decision to skip the Olympics — in order to prepare for next month’s U.S. Open — is the Legg Mason’s gain.

“At the end of my career, I want to be making runs in [grand] slams. I thought the best way to do that was to play a lot in the hardcourt season and get my body ready for it,” said Roddick. “I didn’t think a trip to Beijing, followed by playing a first-round match in the U.S. Open, five days later, was the best preparation.”