Summer Hardcourt Season Set to Warm Up

Moderately hokey headlines aside, the ATP's North American summer hardcourt swing is underway in Atlanta, which is hosting a professional tennis tournament for the first time in nine years. The Atlanta event represents the first entry into this year's US Open Series, which tallies points compiled by each player through the North American hardcourt events leading up to and including the US Open, and offers a handsome cash bonus for whichever participant achieves the highest total.

Seeded first in Atlanta is American number one Andy Roddick, who accepted a wildcard entry days before its commencement. Roddick won the last ATP event held in Atlanta to claim the first tour-level title of his professional career, also as a wildcard entrant, way back in 2001. Second is John Isner, of "Isner-Mahut epic" fame, followed by Lleyton Hewitt, who entered the tournament with an injury and flamed out in his opener against Lukas Lacko of Slovakia. Roddick and Isner have both advanced to the quarterfinals, though each was tested more severely in his opening round match than one might have expected- Isner saving two match points to eke out a 4-6, 7-6, 7-6 win over dangerous journeyman Gilles Muller, and Roddick throwing in an uncharacteristically poor second-set tiebreak before reasserting himself in the third to defeat compatriot Rajeev Ram 6-1, 6-7, 6-3.

Though I would stop short of calling it a sure thing, at this stage it appears hard to bet against a Roddick-Isner final, given Roddick's dominant head-to-head records against the other seeds in his half (8-0 against Xavier Malisse, 9-1 against Mardy Fish, 4-1 against Taylor Dent) and the departure of Hewitt, who would have seemed the biggest threat on Isner's side of the draw. I daresay such a final would be something to look forward to, as Roddick and Isner have consistently produced close, hard-fought action through their four previous meetings, and the atmosphere, which would already be electric for a meeting between the top two Americans on home soil, should be even more intense in the aftermath of Isner's rise to public prominence. Roddick leads their series 3-1, but Isner won the most recent encounter at last year's US Open.