Isner to Meet Harrison in All-American Final

5pm Start on Sunday

ATLANTA, July 29, 2017 John Isner is on a roll. In a match up

of the highest two seeds still remaining in the main draw, Isner
defeated No. 3 seed, Gilles Muller, on the Stadium Court in
straight sets, 6-4, 6-2. The win today gave Isner his seventh
straight win and advanced him to his seventh finals appearance
in Atlanta.

Isner, who won an ATP World Tour title last Sunday at the Hall of
Fame Tennis Championships in Newport, looks to claim his
second title in the matter of two weeks in tomorrows finals. No
stranger to holding the Atlanta trophy, as he claimed the title
from 2013-2015. However, he fell to Australian, Nick Kyrgios last
year, in the finals.

A battle of big serves from the toss of the first ball, it was clear
the difference in the match was going to come down to breaking
the other. Isner broke first at 1-1 in the first set, hit a series of
strong backhands and overcame a powerful service game by
Mller. Able to hold serve for the rest of the set, Isner took an
early lead.

Breaking early again in the second set, Isner gave himself an

opportunityand he took advantage. A strong return game in the
second and several strategically-placed volleys by Isner caused
problems Mller throughout the set. Finishing out the final game
on four straight strong first serves, fan-favorite Isner served his
way to another final.

Isner says he is fresh and confident heading into the finals.

I do feel pretty fresh, especially coming off a tournament last

week. It is not easy to play back to back finals. But, I have been
playing the right way. I have not played a three set match yet. I
do not know what my longest match has been. It certainly
doesnt feel like I have been out there longer than an hour and a
half I do not think. That helps a lot. I feel great physically, maybe
the best I have felt in quite sometime. More importantly than that
I am pretty confident as well.

American Ryan Harrison and Great Britains Kyle Edmund

battled for the last finals spot, with Harrison finishing the victor at
6-7(5), 6-3, 6-4. Tonights match marked the first time the two
have ever faced off.

Under the Saturday night lights at the Stadium, the No. 5 seed
Edmund secured the first set in a tight tiebreaker (7-5) against
the tournament No. 4 seed, Harrison. Harrison fought back in the
second set, taming Edmunds ground stroke muscle while
adjusting his serve to win the set at 6-3. In the third set, Harrison
broke Edmund at 4-4 with a combination of good returns and
some deft touch. Harrison, appearing extremely motivated and
thirsty to lock in his entry to the finals, commands his serve and
prevails at 6-4.

Harrison, age 25, is currently ranked No. 42 in singles and

enjoying a strong year after winning his first ATP World Tour title
at the Memphis Open, and more recently, snatched a doubles
grand slam title with Michael Venus at Roland Garros.

Harrison and John Isner will go toe-to-toe on Sunday at 5 p.m. at

the Stadium for the coveted finals trophy.

Yeah thats the way it always is playing John, said Harrison.

He is very comfortable playing here. I am too. You know we
played in the summer series last year in Toronto and it was a
really close match. You know he serves great. I serve really well
also. Our games are going to be ones that are dictated heavily
with control with our service games. It is going to be really
important for me not to get discouraged whenever he is
hammering aces left and right. It is going to happen. I know it is
going to happen. I am going to create as many opportunities as I
can and make sure I hold my service games. You know if we
happen to end up in a breaker, where have no chances the
whole set I will be ready to play the breaker.

An All-American final you dont want to miss.

The doubles duo of Koolhof and Sitak will advance to the pairs
first tour-level final playing as a team. Sitak, and Australian, and
Koolhof from the Netherlands knocked out No. 4 seed Purav
Raja and Divij Sharan of India in straight sets 7-6(3), 6-4.

In the night session, the Bryan Brothers waltzed past John

Millman and Sa. Ratiwatana 6-2, 6-3.

Strings are the Thing at the BB&T Atlanta Open

Behind every powerful serve and winner is a well strung racquet.

This week Chuck Hakansson, Todd Mobley and Fabrazio Rivera
strung around 365 racquets. They arrived to the tournament
around 7:45 am each day, and stayed until around midnight
everyday to prepare the players racquets for their matches.

Gilles Muller visited the stringers 18 times prior to Saturdays

semifinal, the most out of all the athletes this week. Jack Socks
racquet had the lowest tension at 38 pounds. The highest
tension of the week came from Venus Williams. She had her
racquet strung at 66 pounds for her exhibition match against
Genie Bouchard.

RESULTS - JULY 29, 2017

Men's
Singles - Semifinals
[2] J. Isner (USA) d [3] G. Muller (LUX) 6-4 6-2
[4] R. Harrison (USA) d [5] K. Edmund (GBR) 6-7(5) 6-3 6-4
Men's
Doubles - Semifinals
[1] B. Bryan (USA) / M. Bryan (USA) d [PR] J. Millman (AUS) /
Sa. Ratiwatana (THA) 6-2 6-3
W. Koolhof (NED) / A. Sitak (NZL) d [4] P. Raja (IND) / D.
Sharan (IND) 7-6(3) 6-4

ORDER OF PLAY - SUNDAY, JULY 30, 2017

STADIUM COURT start 5:00 pm
[4] R. Harrison (USA) vs [2] J. Isner (USA)
[1] B. Bryan (USA) / M. Bryan (USA) or [PR] J. Millman (AUS)
/ Sa. Ratiwatana (THA) vs W. Koolhof (NED) / A. Sitak (NZL)

Tickets available at www.bbtatlantaopen.com