ATP Atlanta 2017 (BB&T Atlanta Open) is the only hard court event that will be running over the next week as the US Open Series begins on tour. There are two other events that will be running at the same time, both of which will be played in Europe. However, those events, ATP Hamburg and ATP Gstaad, are both to be played on the clay court surface. Atlanta's tournament, a 250-level event, has brought out scores of American players that will all be looking to heat up in preparation for the US Open.
Jack Sock top seeded
Jack Sock is the tournament's top seed in Atlanta, a rare spot for him to be.
His ranking of World No. 17 certainly counts for tons in a small event like Atlanta. He joins three other players that will be awarded a spot directly into the round of sixteen, namely Ryan Harrison, Gilles Muller, and John Isner.
Isner has been a dangerous player in Atlanta many times before. The veteran on the ATP Tour is from the American south and he aims to play his heart out in an event where he enjoys popular fan support. He is a three-time champion in Atlanta, the tournament accounting for 30% of the titles that he has won at the tour level. Isner is now 32 years old, however, and he is into the Newport final on Sunday, July 23rd. It will be impressive if the big-serving American is able to put together a run in Atlanta at his age with little rest ahead of the event.
Among the top-four seeds, Isner is the one that stands to benefit the most from having a first-round bye as he may face fatigue issues after Newport.
Harrison has to be a player with increased hunger at the moment. The 25-year old also hails from the American south as well, and, at earlier points in his career, he was tipped for the top of American tennis.
He does have a title this season and he currently is ranked 40th in the world, a career-high for him. He, Isner, and Sock are the leading Americans in the Atlanta field.
Peripheral American threats to win Atlanta
Frances Tiafoe is an interesting American player in the draw. He will face Aussie John Millman in the first round, a match that Tiafoe will probably be favored to win.
American Wild Cards have gone to Taylor Fritz, Christopher Eubanks, and Reilly Opelka. The latter player is highly regarded and looking to crack the top 100. With a strong result in Atlanta, he could do that. Other Americans in the draw are Ernesto Escobedo, Jared Donaldson, Donald Young, and Bjorn Frantangelo. All together, the main draw has 11 American players so far with more guaranteed to get in through qualifying (ie. there are all-American matches in the final round of quallies).
The non-American player that stands the best chance in Atlanta is Gilles Muller. The Luxembourg native eliminated Rafael Nadal in the Wimbledon 2017 draw a short time ago. Muller is known to have some hard court abilities, having made the quarterfinals of the US Open once in his career.
Muller has two ATP titles this season, having won in Sydney near the start of the year and more recently in an event in the Netherlands. Muller shares a path to the final with Isner. If the American is in fact tired due to his efforts in Newport, then Muller may prove difficult to eliminate ahead of the final.