Isner Continues Atlanta Dominance

Second seed and three-time BB&T Atlanta Open champion John Isner always find a way to bring his best tennis to Georgia, and his Wednesday night match against Vasek Pospisil was no exception. The American won 40 of his 44 service points to record a convincing 6-3, 6-4 victory and book a spot in the quarter-finals.

“I love coming back here,” said Isner. “I’m very comfortable here and enjoy playing this event, so I’m very fortunate this tournament keeps coming back every year.”

Isner prevailed in Atlanta in 2013-2015 and finished runner-up in 2010, 2011 and 2016. He improves to 24-4 at this event with the win over Pospisil. 

Next up for Isner is Lukas Lacko, who scored the upset of the day in defeating sixth seed and Atlanta native Donald Young 6-3, 6-1. Lacko didn’t face a break point in the match and is through to his third quarter-final in Atlanta (2010, 2014)

#NextGenATP American Tommy Paul is through to his first ATP World Tour quarter-final after posting an upset 6-7(5), 6-4, 6-3 win over Malek Jaziri. The 20 year old rallied from 1-3 down in the deciding set to secure the win in two hours and 18 minutes.

“It’s definitely a good feeling. I was playing ITF Futures events a month ago and now I’m in the quarter-finals here, so it’s pretty crazy,” said Paul. “I’m excited to get out there again on Friday and keep riding this confidence.” 

Paul, currently No. 291 in the Emirates ATP Rankings, came through qualifying and has won four consecutive three-set matches this week. He opened his main draw campaign with a first-round win over seventh seed and fellow #NextGenATP player Hyeon Chung of South Korea.

The American has jumped over 100 spots in the Emirates ATP Rankings over the past month. He’s enjoyed success stateside this season on the ATP Challenger Tour, posting semi-final finishes in Savannah and Winnetka.

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Awaiting Paul in the last eight is third seed Gilles Muller, who weathered a stern challenge from qualifier and #NextGenATP Frenchman Quentin Halys to advance 6-4, 6-7(1), 6-3. Muller, competing in his first tournament since defeating Rafael Nadal to reach the Wimbledon quarter-finals, hammered 20 aces and won 87 per cent of his first-serve points to prevail in two hours and 14 minutes.

“It feels good to win. The most important thing is to be ready to start all over again every day. It’s not like players are just going to give it to me because I made the quarter-finals at Wimbledon You have to work hard,” said Muller. “I am ready to do that now. I am going to wake up every day and try to do my best. At the end of the day, there is a good chance I will win a few matches.”

Harrison/Venus Upset In Opening Round 

Andres Molteni and Adil Shamasdin defeated second seeds and Roland Garros champions Ryan Harrison and Michael Venus 6-4, 0-6, 10-7. Next up in the quarter-finals for Molteni/Shamasdin are Wesley Koolhof and Artem Sitak.

Chung and Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan needed 67 minutes to defeat the brother duo of Jack Sock and Eric Sock 6-3, 6-4. Their reward is a quarter-final showdown with top seeds Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan.