JOHN ISNER, MARCOS BAGHDATIS WIN THREE-SETTERS TO REACH ATLANTA TENNIS TITLE MATCH BY RICKY DIMON

Written by: Staff on 2nd August 2015

JOHN ISNER, MARCOS BAGHDATIS WIN THREE-SETTERS TO REACH ATLANTA TENNIS TITLE MATCH BY RICKY DIMON

John Isner of the US reacts after defeating Denis Kudla of the US during a semifinal round match at the BB&T Atlanta Open tennis tournament at Atlantic Station in Atlanta, Georgia, USA, 01 August 2015. Isner will face either Gilles Mueller of Luxembourg or Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus in the singles final. EPA/ERIK S. LESSER |

Isner, Baghdatis win three-setters to reach Atlanta title match

By Ricky Dimon

Tennis fans were treated to an entertaining day on Saturday at the BB&T Atlanta Open. The result should be something similar on championship Sunday.

The No. 1 doubles team in the world–Bob and Mike Bryan–made short work of Atlanta’s own Donald Young and Georgia Tech’s No. 1 player Chris Eubanks. Making their first appearance at this event, the Bryans cruised into the final with a 6-2, 6-4 victory that required just 47 minutes.

Two-time defending singles champion John Isner made things more interesting thanks to a slow start in his afternoon match. An in-form Denis Kudla also played his part in a competitive contest. Kudla won the first set and stayed on serve most of the way in the third after saving one break point in the decider with a stunning backhand pass. At 5-6, 30-0, however, the underdog cracked. He fought off one match point at 30-40 before erring on the second with wide backhand.

“Seven years ago, when I heard this tournament was going to come to Atlanta, I figured it was going to be a good thing for me,” Isner said following his 4-6, 6-2, 7-5 victory. “But not this good.”

Good? More like great. The 6’10” American, who attended college at the not-too-far-away University of Georgia, is an incredible 19-3 lifetime in Atlanta. He has reached at least the semifinals five times in six appearances and Sunday will mark his fifth final.

Perhaps the match of the tournament came at the beginning of the night session, with an all-seeded showdown between Marcos Baghdatis and Gilles Muller. A back-and-forth thriller saw Baghdatis recover from a set down before Muller dug himself out of break deficits twice in the final set. The Luxembourgian, runner-up in Atlanta in 2012, played a brilliant 12th game of the decider to break and force a tiebreaker. In the end, though, it was Baghdatis who survived 6-7(4), 6-3, 7-6(4).

Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus in action against Gilles Mueller of Luxembourg during a semifinal round match at the BB&T Atlanta Open tennis tournament at Atlantic Station in Atlanta, Georgia, USA, 01 August 2015. Baghdatis defeated Mueller and will face John Isner of the US in the singles final. EPA/ERIK S. LESSER

The Cypriot is through to his first ATP final since Kuala Lumpur in 2011 and he is aiming for his first title since Sydney in 2010.

Speaking of titles, only Muller and Colin Fleming stand in the Bryan brothers’ way of another one. Muller came back out no more than 20 minutes after playing a two-hour and 33-minute singles match. It hardly mattered. Showing no signs of physical or mental fatigue, the 32-year-old helped the Luxembourg-Great Britain duo prevail 6-3, 5-7, 10-3.

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

Topics: Atp World Tour, BB&T Atlanta Open, Bryan Brothers, John Isner, Marcos Baghdatis, Ricky Dimon, Sports, Tennis

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10sBalls_com says:

August 2, 2015 at 9:33 am

-@JohnIsner, @marcosbaghdatis WIN THREE-SETTERS TO REACH ATLANTA #TENNIS TITLE MATCH BY @Dimonator- http://t.co/z5Jr1a7IfI @BBTatlantaopen