The first couple days of the BB&T Atlanta Open have been anything but boring! We've even been streaming the day matches during work... Oops! With only a few upsets and many close matches, the first rounds proved the parity between all the players in the draw. Luckily, we had a chance to watch some of the action on Monday.
Monday Highlights:
Tommy Paul d. Hyeon Chung 4-6, 6-2, 6-3: The young American fired back after losing the first set and defeated the #7 seed to win his first ATP level match.
Lukas Lacko d. Thomas Fabbiano 6-1, 6-2: Lukas Lacko defeated his higher ranked opponent, utilizing his
Jared Donaldson d. Ernesto Escobedo 6-3, 6-1: Donaldson cruised past his fellow upcoming American.
Quentin Halys d. Stefan Kozlov: 7-5, 7-6: Another matchup of young upcoming players, the Frenchman Halys won a close match to end the Monday matches.
Tuesday Highlights:
Kyle Edmund d. Marcos Baghdatis: 6-3, 7-5: The young Englishman took out the 2006 Australian Open finalist.
Donald Young d. Tim Smyczek 6-4, 6-2: The Atlanta native and crowd favorite beat his fellow American in a decisive match.
Chris Eubanks d. Taylor Fritz 7-6, 6-4: The Atlanta native and rising Georgia Tech senior made the most of his wildcard opportunity. This was his first ATP level singles win.
John Millman d. Frances Tiafoe 5-7, 6-4, 7-6: In a thrilling 3-set match, the Australian, Millman, defeated the young American.
Vasek Pospisil d. Bjorn Frantangelo 7-5, 4-6, 7-6: Another 3-set battle, the 2014 Wimbledon Doubles Champion beat the upcoming American.
Malek Jaziri d. Reilly Opelka 5-7, 7-6, 6-1: Fending off 8 match points, Jaziri managed to defeat last year's BB&T semifinalist.
Bryan Brothers d. Matt Reid/JP Smith 4-6, 6-4, 1-0: After losing the first set, the #1 seeds rallied back to win the second and the final set tiebreak in order to move on to the quarterfinals.
Wednesday Highlights:
As of early afternoon, only a couple matches have been completed.
Tommy Paul d. Malek Jaziri 6-7, 6-4, 6-3: The young American has another great comeback to make it to his first ATP quarterfinal!
Andres Molteni/Adil Shamasdin d. Ryan Harrison/Michael Venus 6-4, 0-6, 1-0: The 2017 French Open doubles champs could not complete the comeback victory.
Tommy Paul: Tommy has become the breakout star of the tournament with his unbelievable comebacks. In fact, in every match he has played this tournament, including his two qualifying matches, he lost the first set! The young gun has proved his ability to compete with the veterans on the tour by making it to his first ATP level quarterfinals. He has earned a well-deserved day off tomorrow and will play the winner of Gilles Muller and Quentin Halys on Friday.
A little background on the rising American star:
- Grew up in North Carolina before moving down to Florida to train at the USTA development center
- Won the Junior French Open and was the finalist at the Junior US Open
- Currently ranked 291 but has a career high of 191
- Won his first ATP level match earlier this tournament
There are still many more great matches to go today and the rest of the week!
The BB&T Atlanta Open is hosted in Atlantic Station. The tournament will take place from July 22nd-30th, 2017. You can find more information at http://www.bbtatlantaopen.com.
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Vik is an adviser at Fenix Risk Management. A top ranked national junior in tennis and played at Georgia Tech and UNC Charlotte.
Note: the opinions expressed in this blog are that of the author, not of any other individual or organization referenced.