The Atlanta Tennis Championship is part of the ATP World Tour 250 series and will return to Atlanta Athletic Club for the first time in nine years. The tournament was held for the first time 22 years ago in Indianapolis and 4 years later Atlanta had held a tennis tournament known as the Verizon Tennis Challenge ten years in a row.
Andy Roddick, Pete Sampras, Andre Agassi, Gustavo Kuerten, Jim Courier, Boris Becker and John McEnroe are among the champions. Pat Rafter was the only Aussie to triumph here nine years ago. In doubles competition Australians had better results with winners including Todd Woodbridge, Mark Woodforde, Michael Tebbutt, Lleyton Hewitt, Sandon Stolle, Paul Hanley, Jordan Kerr and Ashley Fisher.
This year three Aussies are in Atlanta for the singles competition with Lleyton Hewitt making the main draw. Nick Lindahl and Matt Reid made it through the qualifying rounds. In the doubles draw there are two more Australians to have made it, Stephen Huss and Jordan Kerr.
Lleyton Hewitt is the third seed and looks to win his second title of the season, after his huge triumph at Halle in front of Roger Federer. Lleyton has already won 11 titles in North America and he’s won here before in the doubles. Hewitt has definitely got a shot at winning and he should be very motivated to improve his performances.
American Andy Roddick is the top seed at Atlanta. This is the place where Andy as a teenager has won his first ATP Tour title nine years ago. Since then he has won 20 of his 29 tour-level titles in North America, succeeding to win at least one yearly for last 10 years. He has already won this year in Miami, while outside the U.S., the world No.9 won the title in Brisbane, Australia this year. The American is the best hard court player in 2010 with a 26-4 record and is eager to win one more title this week after disappointing results in last Grand Slam tournaments.
John Isner is the second seed and he will try to win his first title on home soil. He’s come to Atlanta with great confidence after a historical Wimbledon thriller against Nicolas Mahut. John played in two finals in front of home crowd already. Three years ago at Washington and five months ago at Memphis and two months ago in Belgrade, losing on both occasions. The American however did win his first ATP Tour title at the beginning of this year Auckland, New Zealand. Would be interesting to see Isner against Hewitt as the Aussie has owned him in the past. Also the hot and humid conditions are not the best for John as was evident in Miami.
Verdict: Hewitt to win his 12th title in North America.