On Saturday, top seed and defending champion John Isner reached his fourth Atlanta ATP final in five years with a straight-sets victory over fellow American Jack Sock.
Isner, ranked 12th in the world, broke the unseeded Sock once in each set — both times to take the set.
Serving to keep the match alive at 4-5 in the second, Sock double faulted twice and sent a forehand into the net on match point to hand Isner the victory after 97 minutes.
Isner avenged a quarter-final loss to Sock at Newport two weeks ago and was to face Dudi Sela in the title match after the Israeli downed Germany’s Benjamin Becker 6-3, 3-6, 6-3.
Although Isner has a 4-1 career record against Sock, he said the hot, humid weather made for heavy going in the match.
“It was not easy conditions at all in the heat today,” he said. “I thought I played pretty well. Jack is a really good player. I wanted to win that match.”
The big-serving American fired a sedate eight aces, taking his total for the week to 55.
Sela is in his second ATP final after a run that included victories over ninth-seeded American Sam Querrey and fourth-seeded Canadian Vasek Pospisil.
Sela, who beat Becker for the first time in three career meetings, fired three aces and broke the German three times, saving five of the seven break points he faced.
“I feel great,” Sela said. “The atmosphere is great here in Atlanta.”
Sela’s lone appearance in a final came in Beijing in 2008, when he lost to Andy Roddick.
SWISS OPEN
AFP, GSTAAD, Switzerland
Argentine Juan Monaco on Saturday claimed a place in his first final in almost a year as he defeated Robin Haase 6-3, 7-6 (7/4) at the Swiss Open, setting up a showdown with Spain’s Pablo Andujar.
Monaco, whose ranking has plummeted to 105 after a series of injuries going back to late last year, recovered from breaks down in both sets to claim victory over Dutch seventh seed Haase.
The final was to be a first-ever meeting for Monaco against world No. 71 Andujar, who profited from seven double-faults from fourth seed Fernando Verdasco in a 6-3, 6-7 (2/7), 6-1 upset.
Verdasco, treated for a shoulder problem after losing the opening set, broke in the second set as his opponent served for a straight-sets win.
Verdasco then stayed alive by claiming the second set in a tiebreak before collapsing in the third to exit as his serve was broken seven times.
Earlier, the 30-year-old Monaco went through to his first final since Kitzbuehel 51 weeks ago after playing his first semi-final of this year.
CROATIA OPEN
AFP, UMAG, Croatia
Torrential rain forced the cancellation of play at the ATP Croatia Open on Saturday, with both semi-finals and the doubles title match to have been played yesterday.
Defending champion Tommy Robredo of Spain was to face 2012 winner Marin Cilic of Croatia, while top seed and last year’s runner-up Fabio Fognini of Italy was to face Uruguayan qualifier Pablo Cuevas.
Shohei Ohtani and his wife arrived in South Korea with his Los Angeles Dodgers teammates yesterday ahead of their season-opening games with the San Diego Padres next week. Ohtani, wearing a black training suit and a cap backwards, was the first Dodgers player who showed up at the arrival gate of Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul. His wife, Mamiko Tanaka, walked several steps behind him. As a crowd of fans, many wearing Dodgers jerseys, shouted his name and cheered slogans, Ohtani briefly waved his hand, but did not say anything before he entered a limousine bus with his wife. Fans held placards
Taiwan’s Tai Tzu-ying yesterday advanced to the quarter-finals at the All England Open, beating Kim Ga-eun of South Korea 21-17, 21-15. With the win, Tai earned a semi-final against China’s He Bingjiao, who beat Michelle Li of Canada 21-9, 21-9. Defending champion An Se-young defeated India’s P.V. Sindhu 21-19, 21-11. An on Wednesday cruised into the second round, unlike last year’s men’s winner, Li Shifeng, who suffered a shock defeat. South Korea’s An, the world No. 1, overcame Taiwan’s Hsu Wen-chi 21-17, 21-16 to set up the match against Sindhu. In other women’s singles matches, Taiwan’s Sung Shuo-yun lost 21-18, 24-22 against Carolina Marin of
EYEING TOP SPOT: A victory in today’s final against Storm Hunter and Katerina Siniakova would return 38-year-old Hsieh Su-wei to the world No. 1 ranking Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Mertens on Thursday secured a spot in the women’s doubles finals at the BNP Paribas Open after dispatching Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US and Australia’s Ellen Perez 6-2, 7-6 (7/5) at Indian Wells. Hsieh and her Belgian partner Mertens, who won the Australian Open in late January, coasted through the first set after breaking their opponents’ serve twice, but found the going tougher in the second. Both pairs could only muster one break point over 12 games, neither of which were converted, leaving the set to be decided by a tiebreaker. Hsieh and Mertens took a 6-3 lead,
DOUBLES PAYBACK: Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Martens avenged their defeat in the quarters at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open against Demi Schuurs and Luisa Stefani Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei on Wednesday advanced to the semi-finals of the women’s doubles at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, California. Hsieh and partner Elise Mertens of Belgium dispatched Demi Schuurs and Luisa Stefani 6-1, 6-4 to set up a clash against Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US and Australia’s Ellen Perez for a spot in the final of the WTA 1000 tournament. Hsieh and Martens made a blistering start to their rematch after they lost to Schuurs and Stefani in the quarter-finals at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open last month, winning three games without reply at the start of the first set