The 2017 edition of the BB&T Atlanta Open offers hardcourt players a chance to fine-tune their tennis in the weeks before the Canada and Cincinnati Masters, which lead into the U.S. Open. The hardcourt season is shorter this year because Wimbledon ended later. Time is precious for ATP pros trying to get their hardcourt games in gear.
The competition in the 28-player main draw begins on Monday, July 24.
Event Details
Event: BB&T Atlanta Open
Category: ATP World Tour – 250 Series
Date: July 24-30, 2017
Location: Atlanta Station – Atlanta, Georgia
With a prize money allotment of $642,000, the purse went up $24,000 from $618,000 in 2016. For a 28-player 250 event, this is nearly 70,000 Euros above the normal purse.
The top four seeds get byes in this event, so they’ll have a chance to make relatively decent money for winning three matches (which would mean a trip to the finals) against a weak field. While the stars of the ATP rest up for Canada, second- or third-level players can polish their hardcourt games before the Cincinnati Masters, the main lead-up to the 2016 U.S. Open in New York, which starts at the very end of August.
Points
Champion – 250
Runner-up – 150
Semifinal – 90
Quarterfinal – 45
Former Champions and Results (5 Years)
Year Champion Runner-up Score
2016 – Nick Kyrgios def. John Isner – 7-6, 7-6
2015 – John Isner d. Marcos Baghdatis – 6-3, 6-3
2014 – John Isner def. Dudi Sela – 6-3, 6-4
2013 – John Isner def. Kevin Anderson – 6-7, 7-6, 7-6
2012 – Andy Roddick def. Gilles Muller – 1-6, 7-6, 6-2
Player Info:
John Isner, who has made the final of this tournament four years in a row, does well here partly because of the quality of the field, but also because he’s from the University of Georgia. It’s important to him to win this tournament and give supportive crowds what they want. Isner is always going to be the player most fans cheer for in Atlanta. Isner has won three of the last four Atlanta championships.
Jack Sock, at No. 17, is the top-ranked American, but his Grand Slam results have been largely disappointing. At the recently concluded Wimbledon, he was taken apart by unknown Sebastian Ofner in a five-set battle. Sock created chances but just couldn’t convert break points. The American went 3 of 15 on break points. In the fifth set, he double faulted four times. It proved costly and eventually caused him to lose to a player ranked exactly 200 spots below him.
This was a frustrating loss but he’ll look to make amends in the American swing with some big results. Winning in Atlanta will not only give him 250 points but also restore his confidence.
Nick Kyrgios has been rightly criticized over the years for his indiscipline. He said he felt ready to win Wimbledon but pulled out of his first match at SW19. With some discipline will come the desired results, but is he ready to put in the hard yards? Kyrgios had recently posted pictures of himself training in the gym with the caption, ‘Working hard for what matters.” It’s his time to prove it on the court.
The day Kyrgios starts to care for his tennis is the day Kyrgios could dominate the sport. When will that day arrive? Will that ever arrive? He is the defending champion but he’s been struggling with a hip injury for a few months now. If he is fit, he definitely can defend his Atlanta title from 2016.
If time away from the game only helped Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, Kevin Anderson did as well. He spent almost three and a half months away from the sport due to a hip injury. The comeback has been successful, although not as fluid as the other two greats: Anderson matched his best result both at the French Open and Wimbledon by reaching the fourth round.
Anderson arrives in Atlanta on the back of a good run at Wimbledon. He was very close to reaching the quarterfinals. He is ranked No. 35 in the world, but the way he is playing, he should climb the ranking ladder.
Atlanta Station
The latest BB&T Open will occur in this makeshift facility, which supplanted the Atlanta Racquet Club and the Racquet Club of the South (two previous facilities) as the new home of this ATP 250 tournament. Atlanta Station is not a well-established tennis complex. It is instead a collection of temporary tennis courts carved into a larger shopping and retail district in midtown Atlanta. These are not permanent courts. The space for the tournament is prepared in the weeks leading up to the event, and it does not remain in place afterward. The central court for this tournament will be a redesigned version of what existed last year.
