ATP Atlanta: Americans make up titles among themselves
Service monsters John Isner and Brandon Nakashima face the final of the Atlanta hard court event.
by tennisnet.com
last edit: Aug 01, 2021, 08:19 am
The spectators of the ATP 250 tournament in Atlanta get to see a US and generation duel alike. The only 19-year-old Brandon Nakashima challenges the service colossus John Isner in the final on Sunday. It is also the second duel between the two US players within a very short time. Only last week Nakashima prevailed in the semi-finals of the hard court tournament in Los Cabos (Mexico) against his opponent 17 years older in two sets 7: 5 and 6: 4.
Nakashima, who is currently only in ATP position 115 and slipped into the main competition of the tournament in the US state of Georgia through a "Special Exempt", defeated the Finn Emil Ruusuvuori 3: 6, 6: 4, 6 in his semifinals : 3. The 22-year-old from Helsinki also surprisingly made it into the last four and on the way defeated such calibers as Benoit Couples or Cameron Norrie. However, Nakashima also knew how to shine with a success over the number one Milos Raonic.
John Isner also went the full distance in his semifinal duel against Taylor Fritz - for the third time in the course of the tournament. He prevailed against his compatriot with 7: 6 (4), 5: 7, 6: 3. After 2:19 hours of play, the tree-long service specialist from the US state of North Carolina was able to look forward to his ninth appearance in the finals in Atlanta. Isner was allowed to enter the winners list of the hard court event five times - most recently in 2018 with a three-set final victory over Ryan Harrison (also USA).