Former Dawg Wins Third-Straight BB&T Atlanta Open

There’s nothing like home court advantage.

John Isner claimed his third-consecutive BB&T Atlanta Open singles championship this past Sunday after defeating a game Marcos Baghdatis, 6-3, 6-3. The title is the 10^th of the former Georgia Bulldog’s career. Isner dominated with his powerful first serve, landing 71 percent while Baghdatis, who seemingly was not at 100 percent after a grueling three-set semifinals match with Gilles Muller the night before, did the best he could to return the blistering serves.

“It’s obviously my best weapon,” remarked Isner when speaking about his serve. “I work on it a lot on the practice court. I feel I can hit it anywhere.” The 30-year-old top ranked American finished with 13 aces on the day and never faced a break point against the fifth-seeded Baghdatis who hails from Cyprus.

“I played five matches this week…the good thing is that it’s nothing serious,” Baghdatis said, explaining that he has an inflamed tendon. “I didn’t play my best tennis this week but I’m pretty happy with my mental side, I found ways to win.”

Isner won three matches before making it to the finals, but it wasn’t easy. The top-seeded Isner defeated Radek Stepanek 7-6³, 7-6⁷ in the second round after a first round bye. He then defeated Ricardis Berankis 7-6⁵, 6-4, before rallying to beat Denis Kudla 5-7, 6-2, 7-5 in the semifinals.

The championship match lasted just over an hour, before Isner was able to secure yet another title and earned 250 Emirates ATP Rankings points and $106,565 in the process.