JOHN ISNER WINS THIRD STRAIGHT ATLANTA TITLE, BRYAN BROTHERS ALSO TRIUMPH

Written by: Staff on 2nd August 2015

JOHN ISNER WINS THIRD STRAIGHT ATLANTA TITLE, BRYAN BROTHERS ALSO TRIUMPH

John Isner of the US reacts after defeating Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus during the singles final match at the BB&T Atlanta Open tennis tournament at Atlantic Station in Atlanta, Georgia, USA, 02 August 2015. Isner defeated Baghdatis to win his third BB&T Atlanta Open in a row. EPA/ERIK S. LESSER |

Isner wins third straight Atlanta title, Bryan brothers also triumph

By Ricky Dimon

John Isner is now a back-to-back-to-back champion of the BB&T Atlanta Open after cruising past a hobbled Marcos Baghdatis 6-3, 6-3 in Sunday’s final. Isner fired 13 aces without double-faulting, served at 72 percent, and lost a minuscule three points in nine service games.

The 19th-ranked American said afterward that he noticed Baghdatis was struggling physically as early as the match’s second point. That’s when the Cypriot serve-and-volleyed, an uncharacteristic move for a player who prides himself on baseline ball-striking.

Unsurprisingly, Baghdatis took an injury timeout for a right-leg issue following the first set. Things hardly improved for the fifth seed in set two, as Isner continued to dominate on serve and had little trouble charging ahead with a break lead. The top seed wrapped up the proceedings in style with another scalp of the Baghdatis serve at 5-3.

“I don’t think I played my best tennis this week, but I’m pretty happy with my mental side,” said Baghdatis. “I found a way to win.”

That’s what he did in a two-hour and 33-minute semifinal thriller against Gilles Muller on Saturday night. Baghdatis said after the title match that very little recovery and a bedtime of around 3:00 a.m. did not help his physical state. The 2006 Australian Open runner-up added that he wished the ATP could change the schedule of match times to cater toward the players instead of toward TV. In other words, Baghdatis obviously wanted the final to be on Sunday night–but ESPN had a 3:00 p.m. slot.

“I felt great out there,” Isner said of his keep. “I kept getting stronger and stronger. I feel awesome. This is exactly what I need. I can’t ask for anything better; I got the matches under my belt. That should bode well (for the rest of the hard-court summer).”

John Isner (L) of the US holds the championship trophy after defeating Marcos Baghdatis (R) of Cyprus during the singles final match at the BB&T Atlanta Open tennis tournament at Atlantic Station in Atlanta, Georgia, USA, 02 August 2015. Isner defeated Baghdatis to win his third BB&T Atlanta Open in a row. EPA/ERIK S. LESSER

Whereas Isner is now a ridiculous 20-3 lifetime at the event, Bob and Mike Bryan had never won a match in Atlanta (or at least not at the BB&T Atlanta Open as it is now). Of course, that is because they had never played.

The Bryan brothers’ debut appearance ended in grand fashion with a come-from-behind 4-6, 7-6(2), 10-4 victory over Muller and Colin Fleming. Although the Bryans dropped the opening set and needed a tiebreaker in the second, they always seemed to have a slight upper hand after stumbling to a double-break deficit in the first.

“We’ll definitely be back next year,” Bob assured during the trophy ceremony.

Ricky contributes to 10sballs.com and also maintains his own tennis website, The Grandstand.

Topics: Atp, BB&T Atlanta Open, Bryan Brothers, Doubles tennis, John Isner, Ricky Dimon, Sports, Tennis

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10sBalls_com says:

August 2, 2015 at 8:47 pm

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