For the first time in nine years, professional tennis is back in Atlanta.
This city last hosted an ATP in the spring of 2001, when the AT&T Challenge was played on clay. Its new tournament is the Atlanta Tennis Championships, which kicks off the U.S. Open Series—the annual buildup to the U.S. Open featuring six weeks of summer hard-court tennis.
Andy Roddick won his first career title at the 2001 Atlanta event and he is returning to the site of his breakout performance on the pro tour. Roddick, ranked ninth in the world, was not on the entry list until he accepted a wild card late last week.
Roddick is the No. 1 seed as the top-ranked player in the field, and his presence bumped John Isner into the No. 2 slot. Isner, a former University of Georgia standout who led the Bulldogs to the 2007 NCAA Championship, registers at 19th in the world and is the second-ranked American behind Roddick. The 6’9’’ Tampa resident announced himself as a force on tour by upsetting Roddick in a fifth-set tiebreaker at last year’s U.S. Open, but he is now most famous for winning the longest match in tennis history (at Wimbledon, he beat Nicolas Mahut 70-68 in the fifth set after 11 hours and five minutes).
The other Top 30 player in the Atlanta field is Lleyton Hewitt, a former world No. 1 and two-time Grand Slam champion. Still going strong at 29 years old, Hewitt won the U.S. Open in 2001 and Wimbledon in 2002. The Aussie is on a collision course with Isner for Saturday’s semifinals.
The Atlanta Tennis Championships have a local flavor in the form of Robby Ginepri and Donald Young. Ginepri, ranked No. 75 in the world after a recent run to the fourth round of the French Open, won this tournament when it was held last year in Indianapolis. Young, also of Atlanta, is on the brink of the Top 100 at No. 105. The 20-year-old is in fine form having reached the final of a Challenger event last weekend.
Also part of the field are big-name Americans Mardy Fish, James Blake, and Taylor Dent. Fish, the event’s No. 6 seed, won a title in Newport, RI, two weeks ago and is playing doubles here with Isner. Blake, a former world No. 4, and Dent, who has been as high as No. 21, will go head-to-head in a blockbuster first-round matchup.
Early-round action runs through Thursday before the quarterfinals, semis and final take center stage this weekend.
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