ISNER GOES DOWN IN TORONTO, BUT FELLOW AMERICANS SMYCZEK AND RUSSELL EARN WINS BY RICKY DIMON

Written by: Staff on 4th August 2014

BB&T Atlanta Open men's tennis tournament in Atlanta, Georgia

ISNER GOES DOWN IN TORONTO, BUT FELLOW AMERICANS SMYCZEK AND RUSSELL EARN WINS BY RICKY DIMON

epa04326783 Tim Smyczek of the USA returns the ball to Ryan Harrison of USA during a match at the BB&T Atlanta Open at Atlantic Station in Atlanta, Georgia, USA, 22 July 2014. EPA/ERIK S. LESSER |

It was a surprising day of action for the American contingent at the Rogers Cup on Monday. John Isner, Tim Smyczek, and Michael Russell took the court, with only Isner (vs. Ivan Dodig) being a considerable favorite. As it turned out, however, only Isner took a loss.

The United States’ top-ranked player with room to spare at No. 14 in the world went down to Dodig 6-4, 6-7(4), 6-3 after one hour and 52 minutes. Isner did not break serve a single time in 15 return games and he did not even generate one break point. He has now gone two straight matches–both three-setters–without breaking serve, having previously lost to countryman Steve Johnson in a third-set tiebreker in Washington, D.C.

“He’s the guy who can beat everybody, as well a great player for many years, so I really tried to play my best,” said Dodig, who had not played a match since the French Open due to injury. “We had a tight match (last year) in Miami. Today was again a tough match for both of us. Today I was a little bit more lucky.”

Smyczek and Russell fared better. After winning two matches over the weekend to earn a spot in the main draw, Smyczek took care of fellow qualifier Tobias Kamke 6-4, 6-2. Russell, who also qualified, rolled over Nicolas Mahut 6-3, 6-3. The 36-year-old saved all three of the break points he faced.

This is an important time of year for Smyczek, who currently registers at No. 104 in the world but is projected to climb to 90th even if he loses his next match. However, he has third-round U.S. Open points to defend coming up in New York thanks to an impressive run last year in which he came within two games of reaching the fourth round.

“That’s what we play for, especially as Americans,” Smyczek recently said in Atlanta when asked about his thrilling five-set loss to Marcel Granollers last summer in Flushing Meadows. “That’s what we’re shooting for; to get back to that point.”

It is suddenly looking like a possibility for Smyczek, who won a main-draw match in Atlanta and reached the third round last week in Washington, D.C. Now his fine form is continuing in Toronto.

“I had a little bit of a rough spring, but things started to come together at Wimbledon,” Smyczek said at the beginning of the summer. “I think I’ve set myself up well to play my best tennis during the summer hard-court season. I had knee surgery a couple of months ago it was a long road back. I came back quickly but it took a while for me to feel like I used to. I’m really happy with the way I’m feeling physically on the court.”

Topics: Atp, Ivan Dodig, John Isner, Michael Russell, Ricky Dimon, Rogers Cup, Steve Johnson, Tennis, Tennis News, Tim Smyczek, Toronto

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10sBalls_com says:

August 4, 2014 at 8:47 pm

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RD_Tennistalk says:

August 4, 2014 at 8:49 pm

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aysworld says:

August 4, 2014 at 8:50 pm

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