Highs and Lows

Coverage

2011

Atlanta Tennis Championships

Highs and Lows

Saturday, 23 July 2011 08:50

Highs and Lows

Written by Christina Ward

Out of Sync
Yen-Hsun Lu had a great start to his Quarterfinal match against John Isner with a break point in the first game, but after failing to break, Lu had a difficult time staying in the rallies and reading Isner’s serve in their first meeting. At one point the second set where Lu failed again to return one of Isner’s serves, he let out an annoyed sigh and shrugged his shoulders. Isner only served eight aces for the match, but he only lost four points on his first serve on his way to a 6-1, 6-2 victory, in 56 minutes. Isner acknowledged that his opponent did not play his best, but he still felt he played a solid match himself and was happy to win quickly. Isner is on a seven-match winning streak after winning in Newport last week.

Déjà vu
Isner said his last two matches this year are very similar to his path to the Final last year, where he had a long three-setter followed by a quick Quarterfinal. Isner will meet Gilles Muller, who defeated Kevin Anderson 7-6(3), 7-6(3), in a semifinal rematch of their second-round encounter last year, where Isner won in a third-set tiebreak.

Flirting with Rain
Mardy Fish and Somdev Devvarman played a very close first set. They traded breaks early in the set, and Devvarman saved 3 break points at 3-4 only to lose his serve and the set in his following service game.

There was light rain throughout the second set, and thunder and lightning in the distance, but not enough to cancel play. Fish dominated the second set and quickly led 5-0, but after not taking advantage of two match points on Devvarman’s serve, Fish lost the next 12 points. Fish closed out the match the second time serving for it and won 6-4, 6-3. Fish thought that he played a good match, except for when he served for the match the first time and lost serve at love. This is the third time Fish has defeated Devvarman this year, and he has not lost a set in any of the meetings. Fish is into the Semifinals for the fourth time this year and will be looking to make his first final since Cincinnati last year.

Let’s Hear It for the Ladies
American WTA player Melanie Oudin was spotted at the night session Quarterfinal matches. Oudin uses the Racquet Club of the South as her home base to train.

Best Match of the Day
The last match of the day between Ryan Harrison and Rajeev Ram proved to be the best match of the day. Ram won the first set 6-4 using great net play to finish off points and prevent Harrison from developing a rhythm from the baseline. In the second set, Harrison started to execute his passing shots more effectively as Ram rushed to the net. The third set was tightly contested and featured a lot of variety from the baseline and the net. Harrison saved a match point with an ace at 5-6. Harrison raced to a 5-1 lead in the tiebreak before closing out the match 4-6, 6-1, 7-6(5), on a net cord winner. Harrison is into his first ATP Tour semifinal of his career, and he will enter the top 100 when next week’s rankings are released. This is the first time this year that there are three Americans in the semifinals of an ATP tournament.

See more photos from Friday, July 22 by CLICKING HERE