To kick off the US Open series, the Atlanta Tennis Championships (ATC) have been moved to Racquet Club of the South(RCS). If you remember, Melanie Oudin who made her famous quarterfinal run in 2009 came from there so its good to see the club gaining more notoriety.
Day one was yesterday, and I have to say my emotions oscillated between interested and disgust. The first match I saw was Rajeev Ram win his match to qualify for the main draw (nobody remembers the loser people). You all might remember Ram as the Indian pseudo-Pete Sampras, seeing as how he emulates not only Sampras' playing style serving and volleying, but also copies technique on the serve, forehand and backhand. I found this match interesting to watch because I saw not only a lot of serving and volleying but a mixture of approaches from hard forehands to even slice approach shots. I'm glad Ram was able to get the W because it keeps the draw interesting with his classical style of play.
On the other hand, Donald Young got completely demolished yesterday by Michael Russell getting bageled in the first set (losing 6-0) and losing the second set 6-3. Overall I feel like Young simply didn't bring the quality of play needed for that of an ATP level player. That compounded with the experience of veteran Michael Russell sealed Young's fate. However, Young has had notable wins this year, beating world number four Andy Murray at Indian Wells which gives him a ray of hope in some sense.
What's interesting but not surprising about the ATC is that there is a LOT of American play with exactly 11 being entered in the main draw. With this in mind, I'm gonna need the USA to bring something home for once. This,however, is a plausible endeavour. Number one seeded Mardy Fish has had an outstanding year, making it to the second week of Wimbledon and losing to eventual finalist Rafael Nadal. James Blake has secured a spot in the second round beating Ernest Gublis in three sets. He will face John Isner in the second round, the number three seed. Honestly, he's probably going to lose but we can't disregard the fact that he is a former top 5 player, giving him some intangibles.
Despite the notables faces, who I am most interested in is my boy Ryan Harrison. Harrison is definitely making strides on the tour so far, with wins over Ivan Ljubicic in the US Open and taking the indefatigable David Ferrer to five sets. However, he does have a difficult draw. If he wins today's match, he'll face Xavier Malisse in the second round. If he wins that he could possibily face Lleyton Hewitt, a two time grand slam champion or Grigor Dimitrov, a prodigy like himself who is often compared to the legend Roger Federer. Assuming he wins those two rounds, he could possibly face Fish in the semis. Overall, I'm saying his draw is horrible and extremely unlucky but he has done worse. Furthermore, we cannot ignore the fact that the crowd is American and he has played at this venue before in the Australian Open Wildcard Playoff which he won ( and I was there!).
With these factors in mind, the Atlanta Tennis Championships will definitely be characterized by high quality of play from both familiar faces and those who are attempting to re-emerge on the scene and for newcomers. Other play features Harrison vs. Sugita and Hewitt playing Simmonds.Tomorrow's play features veterans Tommy Haas vs. Robby Ginepri and James Blake teaming up with John Isner in doubles.
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