Some familiar faces, led by Mardy Fish and John Isner, will fill out the main draw and qualifiers at the BB&T Atlanta Open at Atlantic Station.
Fish, the event’s two-time champ, will make his first appearance on the ATP World Tour since March at the BB&T, which will begin with qualifiers on July 20. Fish has been battling various health issues this season.
Joining Fish will be Isner, who at No. 21 is the second-highest American in the ATP World Tour rankings. Isner, a former standout at Georgia, is expected to be the tournament’s top seed. He was beaten by Fish in the BB&T finals in 2010 and 2011.
Also in the singles field are Australia’s Lleyton Hewitt, a former Wimbledon and U.S. Open champ, James Blake and South Africa’s Kevin Anderson (No. 23 in the world rankings), each of whom have competed in the BB&T in recent years.
Also returning are Ryan Harrison, Jack Sock, Marinko Matosevic and Yen-Hsun Lu.
Newcomers include the Czech Republic’s Radek Stepanek, Uzbekistan’s Denis Istomin, Croatia’s Ivan Dodig and Holland’s Igor Sijsling. All four players are expected to receive seeds in the BB&T. Istomin is No. 45 in the ATP rankings, Stepanek is No. 26, Dodig is No. 54 and Sijsling is No. 60.
Seeds will be determined on July 15.
Atlanta residents Donald Young and Robby Ginepri are scheduled to compete in the qualifiers.
On the doubles side, Bob and Mike Bryan, who just won the French Open doubles championship, have committed to play in the BB&T. Harrison will play doubles with his younger brother Christian.
Tickets can be purchased at www.bbtatlantaopen.com. Call 1-866-607-5461 for more information.
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