BB&T Atlanta Open Main Draw Preview
–Steen Kirby, TennisEastCoast.com
The main draw for Atlanta is out, a bit earlier than what was planned. It features top 4 seeds John Isner (who plays in the Newport final), 2 time defending champ Mardy Fish, Kei Nishikori and Eastbourne champ Andy Roddick (who all receive 1st round byes). They are joined by a host of Olympians including Alex Bogomolov Jr. (Russia), Go Soeda (Japan) and Gilles Muller (Luxembourg).
1st round singles match-ups are as follows:
Newport Semi-Finalist Rajeev Ram v. qualifier
(WC) Steve Johnson vs. local favorite Donald Young
(WC) Jack Sock, (in his 3rd tournament match back from injury) vs. (7) Alex Bogomolov Jr.
Paul Capdeville vs. Nicolas Mahut
Michael Russell vs. qualifier
Paolo Lorenzi vs. (5) Kevin Anderson
(8) Go Soeda vs. Wimbledon Round of 16 participant Xavier Malisse
Igor Kunitsyn vs. (WC) Brian Baker (Nice finalist and Wimbledon Round of 16 participant)
qualifier vs. Dmitry Tursunov
(6) Ryan Harrison, another Newport semi-finalist, vs. James Blake
Matt Ebden vs. qualifier
Gilles Muller vs. Delray finalist Marinko Matosevic
Fleming and Hutchins
On the doubles side of things, the Flemchins (Colin Fleming and Ross Hutchins), who are Olympians for host nation Great Britain, are the top seeds and will take on Lukas Dlouhy and Nicolas Mahut in the 1st round. Santiago Gonzalez of Mexico and Scott Lipsky of the USA are the 2 seed and will take on Donald Young and Raven Klaasen.
3 seed team of Dominic Inglot and Treat Conrad Huey will take on the friendly team of Matt Ebden and Ryan Harrison, and a 2nd all British team of Jamie Delgado and Ken Skupski will take on Olivier Charroin and Adil Shamasdin.
The non-seeded 1st round doubles match ups willbe Alex Bogomolov Jr. and Gilles Muller vs. American youngsters Steve Johnson and Jack Sock, Paolo Lorenzi and Rajeev Ram vs. the South African tandem of Kevin Anderson and Rik De Voest. You’ll also see veterans Xaiver Malisse and Michael Russell vs. JP Fruterro and Dmitry Tursunov. Finally, Aussies Colin Ebelthite and Marinko Matosevic will face Kevin King and Ignacio Taboada.
It should be a great week of tennis. Main draw action starts Monday.
