Second seed John Isner improved to 25-4 at the BB&T Atlanta Open with a dominant 7-5, 6-4 quarter-final win on Friday over Lukas Lacko. “I think most importantly, I’m at home in the United States and playing on my favorite surface. It’s one of the reasons I do well,” said Isner. “I don’t want to jinx it, but I’ve always played well here. I love this tournament and have fortunately been healthy enough to keep coming back here." Going back to his title win last week in Newport (d. Ebden), the American has held in 60 consecutive service games. He faced a break point at 3-4 in the opening set against Lacko, his first in 53 service games, but got...
After more than a decade of competing together in ATP World Tour doubles events, Thai twins Sanchai Ratiwatana and Sonchat Ratiwatana found themselves battling against each other on Thursday at the BB&T Atlanta Open. The Ratiwatana brothers didn't play together in Atlanta because their combined Emirates ATP Doubles Ranking would have left them outside the cut to make the Atlanta doubles draw. By playing with other players, though, both brothers were able to compete in main draw action. Sanchai and John Millman moved into the semi-finals over Sonchat and Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi 6-2, 6-4. The brothers had squared off only once before, at an ATP Challenger Tour event in Cremona in July 2011. Sanchai (w/Mektic) also came out on top in...
College tennis star Christopher Eubanks is enjoying his best summer ever with a dream week in his hometown at the BB&T Atlanta Open. The rising senior at Georgia Tech reached his first ATP World Tour quarter-final on Thursday night by defeating eighth seed and #NextGenATP American Jared Donaldson 6-4, 4-6, 6-2. Eubanks rushed to a 3-0 lead in the deciding set and took the match after a pair of double faults from Donaldson wrapped up the contest. He then took a lap around the court and high-fived the fans to celebrate his victory. Eubanks, currently No. 461 in the Emirates ATP Rankings, is competing in just his fifth pro event of 2017 due to a hectic college tennis schedule. He...
Fifth seed Kyle Edmund moved into this third ATP World Tour quarter-final of the season on Thursday at the BB&T Atlanta Open, rallying from a set down to defeat the red-hot Peter Gojowczyk 2-6, 6-4, 7-5. "I was really pleased to get through that," said Edmund. "He was hitting really cleanly in the first set and I wasn't able to get into many points. I've been in Atlanta quite awhile to get used to the conditions, so it's nice to get wins under your belt and get some momentum for the rest of this hard-court swing." Gojowczyk, a semi-finalist last week in Newport, led by a break at 3-2 in the deciding set, but Edmund fought back to prevail after...
John Isner learns the tricks of the Harlem Globetrotters from Kris Hi-Lite Bruton and teaches Bruton some tennis skills at the BB&T Atlanta Open. Photo: Alex Smith.