Mondays are usually lazy days at an ATP 250 tournament. With a field of 32, there’s always a smaller number of qualifiers and tournament organizers can’t schedule the big names with the byes until the first round is complete. Local favorite Noah Rubin is scheduled to marquee the night session today, and that leaves some popcorn match qualifiers for today’s day session followed by two singles main draw matches.
Ernesto Escobedo came back from a set down to beat Yasutaka Uchiyama, 4-6, 6-3, 7-6(5) yesterday to set up an all-American affair with Chris Eubanks, who breezed past wild card Adam El Midawhy, 6-3, 6-2. Eubanks was so comfortable after the win that he ate the popcorn a fan offered him and autographed the nearly empty bag. I expect Eubanks to get some revenge today, as Escobedo won their qualifying final here in New York 364 days ago. Eubanks also beat Escobedo at last year’s Aptos Challenger.
Alexei Popyrin is the breakout player that everyone hopes breaks out in their tournament. The 19-year-old Australian is at a career high of 123, and he faces Canadian Brayden Schnur, who’s also moving within reach of the top 100, at #153. There’s no head to head matchups on these two, so pick a winner.
Tennys Sandgren takes on 37-year-old Paolo Lorenzi in the tournament’s first main draw match on stadium court. It’s hard to expect anything less than a victory for Sandgren, as Lorenzi is only 1-12 versus top 100 players in the last year. The winner will be rewarded with a second round match against either Peter Polansky or Ryan Harrison.
Around the same time as the Sandgren/Lorenzi showdown, Bernard Tomic will try to continue to resurrect his tennis career in a first round match against Lukas Lacko. Though the pair each have a victory against the other, they haven’t faced each other in seven years, so this really is the rubber match. A focused and in-form Tomic should easily prevail in this one.
What did they bring Noah Rubin to his homecoming on opening night in his hometown? They brought him his biggest test of the year to date: Jordan Thompson, the world #60. Rubin will have to do everything right tonight to win this match and move things in his direction in 2019, where he’s already lost to the likes of Mikael Ymer and Kamil Majchrzak.
NEW YORK OPEN – UNIONDALE, USA
$773,985
11-17 FEBRUARY 2019
RESULTS – FEBRUARY 10, 2019
Mens
Qualifying Singles – First Round
Qualifying – [1] A. Menendez-Maceiras (ESP) d [Alt] T. Puetz (GER) 63 62
Qualifying – [2] A. Popyrin (AUS) d J. Ward (GBR) 75 64
Qualifying – [3] R. Ramanathan (IND) d [Alt] R. Smith (USA) 46 62 64
Qualifying – [4] C. Eubanks (USA) d [WC] A. El Mihdawy (USA) 63 62
Qualifying – [5] B. Schnur (CAN) d [WC] C. Kingsley (USA) 76(3) 63
Qualifying – E. Escobedo (USA) d [6] Y. Uchiyama (JPN) 46 63 76(5)
Qualifying – T. Smyczek (USA) d [7] R. Quiroz (ECU) 67(6) 63 75
Qualifying – [8] A. Arnaboldi (ITA) d Y. Watanuki (JPN) 75 46 63
ORDER OF PLAY – MONDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 2019
STADIUM COURT start 11:00 am
Qualifying – [4] C. Eubanks (USA) vs E. Escobedo (USA)
Qualifying – [3] R. Ramanathan (IND) vs T. Smyczek (USA)
[8] T. Sandgren (USA) vs P. Lorenzi (ITA)
Not Before 7:30 pm
[WC] N. Rubin (USA) vs [7] J. Thompson (AUS)
[WC] B. Evans (USA) / J. Isner (USA) vs S. Gonzalez (MEX) / A. Qureshi (PAK)
GRANDSTAND start 11:00 am
Qualifying – [1] A. Menendez-Maceiras (ESP) vs [8] A. Arnaboldi (ITA)
Qualifying – [2] A. Popyrin (AUS) vs [5] B. Schnur (CAN)
L. Lacko (SVK) vs B. Tomic (AUS)
Georgia Tech’s Christopher Eubanks claimed his first ever ATP main draw match victory, upsetting ATP young gun Taylor Fritz 7-6 6-4. Eubanks showed his power, controlling the match against the struggling Fritz. The first set was nip and tuck, with neither player facing a breakpoint. Eubanks lost one point on serve in the ensuing tiebreak, but Fritz lost two, and with that, the set. In the second set Eubanks went up a break, and then saved the only break point Fritz created the whole match, going on to serve it out 6-4. Fritz struggling on return to make any inroads.
Joining Eubanks in the second round is Atlanta’s own Donald Young, the home favorite dominated Tim Smyczek 6-4 6-2, playing the same comfortable and smooth tennis that has seen him post one of his best seasons on tour in years, Smyczek never made inroads.
Three young Americans weren’t as lucky on day 2 of main draw action. Reilly Opelka had eight match points in the second set, but his serve fell apart in the third set and he ended up losing to veteran Malek Jaziri 5-7 7-6 6-1. The loss is yet another for Opelka, who has struggled this year to close out matches at the tour level, with just one win on tour this year.
Vasek Pospisil won a nip and tuck battle against Bjorn Fratangelo 7-5 4-6 7-6. With the ball flying in the heat, Pospisil took the first set with the only break point chance of the set, he failed to break Fratangelo despite three chances in the second set, and Fratangelo stayed alive with a late break. Pospisil faced a break point in the opening service game of the third, and three more serving 4-4, the American never saw a match point though, failing to take his chances on Pospisil’s service games, he would lose the tiebreak 7-3 in the third set.
American Frances Tiafoe hit with power and moved well for three sets, but fell to the more experienced John Millman. Millman winning 5-7 6-4 7-6 in over two hours. Millman struggled on serve in the opening set late on, he saved two break points at 4-4, but then was broken and dropped the set from 5-5. Tiafoe wasn’t able to keep up his momentum in set 2, he was broken twice, once early on, and even though he got back on serve when Millman was serving for the set, he would get broken in the next game for a third set to ensue. Tiafoe served for the match in the third set, but never had a match point. Millman would break back and then snatch the tiebreak by a narrow margin.
The other singles winners on the day were Kyle Edmund, Peter Gojowczyk, and Dudi Sela. Edmund beat a struggling Marcos Baghdatis 6-3 7-5. Edmund was the better mover, and in the heat Baghdatis wilted a bit, failing to create chances in his return games. Gojowczyk kept up his momentum from a positive week in Newport, he won a later afternoon battle with Guido Pella 4-6 6-3 7-6 even though he was down a set and a break to open the match. The tiebreak was close, but only Gojowczyk had a match point. In a match that was not serve centric, the underpowered Sela beat Konstantin Kravchuk 7-5 6-2, coming back from a break down in the opening set.
In the doubles, the Bryan Brothers avoided being knocked off by Matt Reid and J.P. Smith via a super tiebreak. Qureshi/Ratiwatana beat Donald Young and Nick Monroe in a very close nightcap match, and Koolhof/Sitak beat Cox/Reinberg in yet another super tiebreak.
Georgia Tech’s Christopher Eubanks will be facing wild card Reilly Opelka in his ATP debut, after he qualified on Sunday at the 2016 BB&T Atlanta Open. Eubanks stunned the top seed in qualifying, Thiago Monteiro 6-4 7-5, and he’s had to win more matches than any other player to get this far, as he also won the pre-qualifier. Eubanks was strong on his serve in the match, he got a break early in the first, and saved a break point serving for the first set. In the second set he earned a crucial late break after Monteiro had broken him back when he was serving 4-3. Monteiro had a set point/break point opportunity when Eubanks was serving 4-5, but he couldn’t convert it, and Eubanks closed the match out on his second match point chance. Monteiro was suffering from cramps during the match.
Joining Eubanks in the main draw are Austin Krajicek, Mischa Zverev, and J.P. Smith, as final round qualifying matches saw some upsets on the day besides Eubanks big win. Krajicek slipped past James Duckworth 3-6 7-6 7-6, barely prevailing in a match that featured a lengthy rain delay. Zverev won a close match against Nicolas Meister 7-6 7-5, and Smith upset Tobias Kamke 7-6 6-3, as all of the matches today were close ones.
Krajicek faces fellow American Donald Young in the main draw, Smith will face veteran Julien Benneteau, and Zverev has a winnable match against Adrian Mannarino. Monteiro made the main draw as a lucky loser, as Rajeev Ram withdrew. He will face Tim Smyczek in the opening round.
The schedule for tomorrow features Monteiro vs. Smyczek, Groth vs. Donaldson, Krajicek vs. Young, and Eubanks vs. Opelka, along with Mannarino vs. Zverev in terms of singles matches.
ATP Doubles Draw
Ivan Dodig and Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi are the top doubles seeds, they open with Jonathan Marray and Adil Shamasdin. The winner of that match will get Kamke/Dusan Lajovic or Marcelo Demoliner/Guillermo Garcia-Lopez.
The big server Sam Groth has teamed up with veteran Eric Butorac, they face Swedes Johan Brunstrom/Andreas Siljestrom in round 1, with Dan Evans/Ken Skupski or Nicholas Monroe/Artem Sitak to follow.
Alex Dolgopolov and Sergiy Stakhovsky, Ukraine’s #1 and #2, face James Frawley and Nick Kyrgios on Monday, with Purav Raja/Divij Sharan or Jonathan Erlich/Mariusz Frystenberg to follow.
Mate Pavic and Robert Lindstedt are the #2 doubles seed, they face Andres Molteni and Horacio Zeballos in their first match, with an alternate doubles team or Eubanks/Zack Kennedy of Georgia Tech and Georgia State Universities to follow.
Seeds Advance In Saturday Qualifying at BB&T Atlanta Open 2016 Steen Kirby, Tennis Atlantic
The seeds advanced to final round qualifying at the 2016 BB&T Atlanta Open, as most of the matches were routine straight set affairs on a Saturday that was interrupted by intermittent rain showers.
ATP veterans Tobias Kamke and Mischa Zverev won the by the exact same score of 6-4 6-2 on the day, over Michael Mmoh, and Matt Reid respectively. Neither player was broken in their matches as they both got necessary breaks to gain quick wins and get out of the heat. Australian James Duckworth made the final round qualies after a 6-2 6-2 victory over Juan Ignacio Londero. Fellow Aussie J.P. Smith joined him as Smith rolled past Andrew Carter 6-3 6-3. The lone South American success on the day, Brazilian top seed Thiago Monteiro dominated the young Trent Bryde 6-0 6-2.
Americans Chris Eubanks, a Georgia Tech player, Nicolas Meister, and Austin Krajicek also advanced to final round qualies in tighter matches. Eubanks upset Tommy Paul 6-2 7-5, as he scored a late break when the match looked headed for a third set. Meister slipped past Alexander Sarkissian 5-7 6-3 6-4, and Krajicek beat an in-form Lloyd Glasspool 7-6 4-6 6-4 in the tightest match of the day.
In final round qualifying matches, Kamke will face Smith, Monteiro faces Eubanks, Zverev will be opposite Meister, and Krajicek and Duckworth will battle it out. Kamke, Monteiro, Zverev, and most likely Duckworth will be favorites to qualify for the main draw.
It was a great day of tennis on semifinal Saturday in Atlanta as John Isner setup what promises to be a great final against Marcos Baghdatis. Both players had to battle for wins, and look to be in excellent form going into the championship singles match.
Isner took part in the first semifinal against Denis Kudla, a match he won 4-6 6-2 7-5. Kudla’s career best form was on display in the early going as Isner was under pressure on his serve in both the 2-2 game and the 3-3 game. Isner fended off a break point for 3-2, but Kudla broke him on his third break point chance for a 4-3 lead in the opening set. The American baseliner was hitting the ball with aggressive flat power off of both wings and coming forward, making Isner stumble about on his footwork, and taking the match to Isner, which was the key.
Kudla would serve out the set after fending off a break point, but getting that first break point chance seemed to energize Isner, who began to mix up his style a bit and bother Kudla on serve more. Kudla was hampered by a tense, and at times weak serve, and the second set was all Isner. The big man was bombing aces, and scored a double break for a 6-2 second set, the final break game also giving Isner the benefit of serving first in the third set, meaning the pressure was always going to be on Kudla every time he stepped up to the service line.
In the third both players battled admirably, but Kudla simply failed to generate chances on the Isner serve like he did in the first set, holds were easily had, but Kudla had to fend off a break point in a long game at 3-4, as Isner was looking for a chance to serve out the match. It would eventually go to 6-5 Isner, and then Kudla simply got tight, as he had to save a break point/match point, and then promptly double faulted to setup Isner with another. This time Kudla’s return was sent long and that was the match as Isner continues to dominate the BB&T Atlanta Open. Stats wise, Isner fired 25 aces, Kudla had 4 double faults. and Isner won a remarkable 89% of his first serve points, that proving to be the difference.
Kudla fought hard and deserves to be commended for his amazing recent run of form, and another career best result in reaching this ATP semifinal as a qualifier. He may not be quite up to the level of a top 20 player like Isner yet, but this match and his results in Atlanta show he’s on the rise and he can get to that level. It will be interesting to see what Kudla brings to the table for the rest of the Emirates Airlines US Open Series, which next goes to his home tournament in Washington D.C., the Citi Open.
In the second singles semifinal veterans Marcos Baghdatis and Gilles Muller were both seeking to reach their first ATP final in over three years, and Muller was bidding to reach his second BB&T Atlanta Open final, however Baghdatis prevailed in a close match 6-7(4) 6-3 7-6(4).
Muller served first against Baghdatis, and as expected was firing aces or unreturnable serves right off the bat. He didn’t return as well as he had in his previous wins, but Baghdatis was a step above his other opponents in terms of level as they battled to 5-4 Muller. In the 5-4 game Muller had a 0-30 lead, but he didn’t advance any further than that as Baghdatis fended him off and from there the opening set went to a tiebreak.
Powered by 9 of his 15 aces coming in the first set, a couple of good return points Muller took that tiebreak 7-4, as he was 5-2 and 6-4 up in the breaker, while Baghdatis never had a lead.
In the second set, Muller’s serve began to dip in quality a bit, and the ballstriker Baghdatis pounced with talented shotmaking. Marcos broke for 2-0, then saved a break point in the next game for a 3-0 lead. He would have another break point chance at 4-1, but Muller scratched through the game. The Cypriot didn’t face any sort of pressure on his own serve after the third game of the set and served the match into a third set with relative ease 6-3.
The third set surprisingly featured breaks for both players as Baghdatis took a 2-1 and 4-2 lead, and had a break point for a 5-2 lead. However Muller continued to hang on though his serve was clearly letting him down. The Luxembourger broke back for 4-4 with surprising efficiency and then held for a 5-4 lead, meaning the pressure would be on Baghdatis the rest of the way. Marcos rose up and broke in a very long 5-5 game, but then failed to serve the match out, as he got tight under pressure, something he also did in the quarterfinals against Pospisil, as his level has dropped in tense moments this week.
In that breaker Baghdatis won the first point, and then held serve from there to take it 7-4.The Cypriot also earned the win in the stats column, as Muller won just 50% of his second serve points (compared to 66% for Baghdatis). It was a close match, but Baghdatis had a more well rounded game, and was better able to deal with adversity compared to Muller’s more one dimensional style. On key points Muller’s shot selection was also lacking.
It’s been a fantastic week for a passionate and motivated Baghdatis, he seems fitter than he’s been in years, and he’s shown glimpses of the form that once made him a Grand Slam finalist nearly a decade ago. Regardless of the outcome of the final, he has a chance to make noise the rest of the hard court summer, and also in the US Open as he remains one of the games best offensive baseliners, and a true talented shotmaker with good groundstrokes and a solid serve.
Previewing the Singles Final
Isner will be a heavy favorite in the 2015 singles final, not only has he won the last two BB&T Atlanta Open’s, his serve has been on point this week and he has yet to lose a tiebreak (3-0). On top of that he’s 5-0 in his career against Baghdatis and all of those wins came on outdoor hard courts, the most memorable being their 2011 US Open Round 1 meeting that saw Isner win two tiebreaks and advance in four sets. Their last meeting came in 2013 in the DC quarterfinals and Isner won that one in three sets, though he lost a tiebreak.
The match against Kudla was Isner’s toughest of the week however, and Kudla is in some ways a poor man’s Baghdatis, as they both have powerful ground strokes and try to play aggressively, while Baghdatis has a better serve. Marcos has had to win four singles matches this week as he didn’t get a bye, so fatigue could play a factor though he seems fit, as the match will be played in hot afternoon conditions. The key factor to me is the fact Baghdatis has gotten tight when facing the pressure of closing out opponents, and his struggles to do that against Pospisil and Muller should dent his chances. However, he did beat the big serving Groth, and Muller in three sets, so he’s already beaten two of the best servers on the ATP tour in the same week, on the same court, and Isner is right up there with them.
We could be looking at three sets, but with the h2h and his current form all helping him out, it’s hard to see Isner not winning a third Atlanta title.
Muller finds success in doubles, Bryans Dominate Again
Gilles Muller needed the literal definition of suitable rest after his grueling three set semifinal in singles, and surprisingly he did reach one final this week, that coming in doubles as he and his partner Colin Fleming beat Eric Butorac/Artem Sitak 6-3 5-7 10-3. Muller/Fleming got off to a strong start in the first set going up 3-0, and though there were a lot of break point chances on all sides in the first set, they got the key break and served out the first set.
In the second Muller/Fleming faced four break point/set points serving 4-5 down after routine holds in the second, and though they survived that, Butorac/Sitak break for 7-5 after not facing a break point chance in the second set. The super tiebreak was then dominated by Muller/Fleming as they went from 1-1 to 6-1 and from 6-2 to 9-2 rather quickly. This team featuring a doubles specialist and a big server will prove to be an interesting foil in the final to the Bryan Brothers.
The aforementioned world #1 team ended the surprising run of Chris Eubanks/Donald Young 6-2 6-4 in a dominant showing that only lasted 49 minutes. The Bryan’s have simply looked to be a cut above this tournament and haven’t really felt the heat this week, as a result, they should be strong favorites to add yet another trophy to their storage locker sized career haul on Sunday, as they vie for their first BB&T Atlanta Open final.
The doubles final comes first and then the singles in the final day of tournament action from Atlanta in what has been yet another successful edition of the Atlanta Open.
Tennis Atlantic 