After a nine-year absence, men’s professional tennis returns to Atlanta with today’s opening round play at the Atlanta Tennis Championships. But with the amount of American men playing in this ATP 250 event, tournament organizers may want to think about calling this the “America’s Got Talent” event as the draw is filled with names many fans will recognize and some new ones they may want to remember as this summer’s hardcourt season wears on. And although last-minute wildcard entrant and top seed Andy Roddick will be sure to bring in crowds wherever he goes, probably the most intriguing matchup is a first round encounter between two well-liked and popular veterans both looking for some early momentum this summer.
Aside from Lleyton Hewitt, Horacio Zeballos, Xavier Malisse and other international players, this event really is a showcase for the U.S. men. With the exception of Sam Querrey, every single American male in the top 100 of the ATP rankings is in Atlanta including Wimbledon “marathon man” John Isner (who played college tennis for the University of Georgia), Kennesaw native Robby Ginepri, Mardy Fish and Michael Russell. Rajeev Ram, Tim Smyczeck along with some young American talent in Ryan Sweeting, Brendan Evans and Atlanta resident Donald Young also round out the field.
But it’s the two U.S. veterans, James Blake and Taylor Dent, who are set to square off in an opening round match that should provide the first real big story of the event. Blake, after losing early at Wimbledon while getting involved in a shouting match with ESPN commentator Pam Shriver, admitted later that his knee injury was not getting better and that the hardcourt season would be a real test to see how much longer he can keep going. Dent, himself on the mend after back surgery kept him out of the game after almost two years, is also looking to rebound this summer after coming back late in 2009. How both men fare early on in Atlanta could set the tone for the rest of their 2010 season.
Donald Young Prepares to Return (Gudris).
Many eyes will of course be on John Isner who will take to the court for the first time in the U.S. after surviving his epic Wimbledon first round match against Nicholas Mahut. If Isner has recovered physically to be a factor this summer will be watched closely by tennis fans. But as to the future of U.S. men’s tennis, we should pay attention to Young and Sweeting who, along with Ryan Harrison who had a nice run at the Newport grass event earlier this month, are looking to add their names to the “ones to watch” list that has eluded young Americans playing in the big leagues for some time now. If either one can pull off a big upset, it might just be enough to kick start U.S. tennis to another level just in time as some of its more well-known faces start to take their final bows in the next year or two.
For more information on the Atlanta Tennis Championships, click here.
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I would LOVE to see a Roddick-Isner final with Roddick winning to start a HUGE summer season on the hard stuff for him!
Sadly, Blake’s already one and done there. But if he’s thinking about retiring, he should take a look at the guy he lost to out there.
I agree with Jake. It’d be great to see a Roddick-Isner final. I hope Isner would win that match.
Isner played well to get out of the match vs. Muller tonight. We’ll see what he has left in the tank the rest of the week. Think if he met Hewitt in the semis, Hewitt would prevail. Roddick needs to be sharp. If he doesn’t at least make the finals, then you have to wonder about his chances the rest of the summer.
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