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Fish makes positive debut in Atlanta
Fish hit six aces past the Frenchman whom he broke four times of 12 tries as Mahut could only grab a meaningless break in the second set. The world number four thus saved four other break-points from Nicolas whom he defeated for the third time in all meetings. On the other side, the French, who was following a 7-6, 6-2 win against Richard Berankis of Lithuania packed from Atlanta earlier than expected as he is still winningless in the head to head confrontations with Fish.
Next up for the crowd favorite is eighth seed Devvarman who eased past Tatsuma Ito 6-1, 6-3 to set his third meeting with the 29-year-old Mardy who leads the head to head confrontations 2-0, having last defeated the world number 68 at the 2010 Newport event. The Indian finished the Ito clash with a 60 first service percentage and four break points out of eight opportunities. He also won 91 percent of service points, something which kept Ito at distance throughout the entire meeting.
The Japanese finished the game with four double faults and a nine percentage of return points, compared to Devvarman who committed zero faults and had a 51 return percentage. Still, the biggest surprise of the week comes from Rajeev Ram who stunned Lleyton Hewitt in three sets, 7-5, 2-6, 6-2 to face compatriot Ryan Harrison in the quarter finals.
Ram dominated the Aussie almost throughout the entire clash, despite facing a second-set scare. The American hit eight aces past the Australian, winning at the same time five breaks and 60 percentage of service points. On the other side, Hewitt, who fired seven aces, finished the game with a 55 first service percentage, including four breaks and a better service percentage of 61.
Ram managed to create ten break-points won, five of which being saved by Lleyton who threatened with a late comeback at one point. Ram had previously ousted Grigor Dimitrov as he has already become a real threat for every of the seeds remain on course for the Atlanta title. His next opponent Harrison stunned Xavier Malisse of Belgium whom the American overcame in three sets after surviving an early scare, 6-7, 6-4, 6-4 to set his first ever meeting with the world number 272.
World number 120 broke the fourth seed Malisse four times out of eight tries, managing at the same time to save two of Belgian’s four break-point chances. Harrison finished the game with seven aces and a remarkable 69 service percentage, compared to the Belgian who had six aces, a 65 service percentage and a poor return percentage of 31. Harrison also committed seven double faults, but that didn’t stop him from powering through to the quarter finals.
Previous to the big win over Malisse Harrison had ousted Yuichi Sugita of Japan 6-1, 7-6, while Malisse had been favored by a BYE in the opening term. Concerning the second half of the draw, second favorite Kevin Anderson has marched on into the final eight round after beating Michael Russell 6-1, 7-5 in the second round, setting a Gilles Muller meeting in the next term.
Anderson broke his opponent four times and conceded one in the second set, but a 76 service points percentage helped him to power through to an easy victory in Atlanta. Anderson finished the game with ten aces, while Russel hit just two and committed seven double faults, which cost him the first set. As for Russell, he finished the game with zero break point chances, a poor 11 percentage of return points and a 39 first serve percentage.
The American was following a 6-0, 6-3 easy win against Donald Young, while Anderson had previously been favored by a BYE. Finally, third favorite John Isner, winner of the Newport tournament this year, edged compatriot James Blake in a three-set epic, 7-6, 6-7, 7-5 to set a Yen Hsun Lu meeting in the quarter finals.
Isner needed just a couple of breaks to get rid of the veteran past whom he thundered 30 aces. Blake won the second set, but he couldn’t provide the same pace in the decider when he committed three double faults and conceded 11 of the 30 aces. He wasn’t able to convert any of the five break-point chances, either, allowing instead his opponent to break him once and grab the hard fought victory which sends him through to the second straight quarter finals.
Isner is aware of his goo momentum as he looks confident with the near future which he believes it’ll bring him more successes on the courts. “I still think my best tennis is 2-3 years ahead of me because I don’t really have the miles on me that a lot of guys here have since they were 18. I take care of myself really well, being so big it’s something I’ve just gotta do. I expect to play for a lot more time,” said the 26-year-old.
His next opponent Yen Hsun Lu overcame Marinko Matosevic 3-6, 6-1, 6-2 after breaking the Aussie six times out of eight tries. Lu had a poor 49 first serve percentage, but counter-balanced it with a 60 percentage of service points. Matosevic created 11 break-point chances but could only convert three of them, something which made Lu stay solid and in touch with the hard fought win.
Atlanta Prize Money and points:
Winner – $96,800 and 250 points ATP
Runner-up – $50,900 and 150 points ATP
Semi finalist – $27,600 and 90 points ATP
Quarter finalist – $15,730 and 45 points ATP
R16 – $9,265 and 20 points ATP
R32 – $5,500 and zero points
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