ATLANTA, August 8, 2016
Nick Kyrgios claimed his second ATP World Tour crown, winning the BB&T Atlanta Open on Sunday. The Aussie stopped John Isner‘s 15-match winning streak in Atlanta and ended the US-American’s quest for a historic four-peat at the hard-court event. Both players fired 18 aces and didn’t lose their service. Kyrgios won 86 of the total 161 points played to seal a 7-6, 7-6 victory in one hour and 46 minutes.
Projected to rise to a career-high World No. 16 in the ATP Rankings, Kyrgios earned his first win over Isner in three Head2Head meetings. He took away $109,950 in prize money as well as 250 ATP ranking points.
“I knew it was going to be tough from the get-go. John is still so comfortable on that court. I needed to come up with some special stuff today and it just came down to a couple points here and there. I did all the right things today and stayed calm. I knew I’d have my chance,” told Kyrgios, who captured his maiden title on the ATP World Tour in Marseille in February.
“In Marseille, I was unbeatable. This week was completely different. I wasn’t playing well at all at the start of the week. I wasn’t in a good space at all. Some things just fell my way. Today, I found the right balance. I was competing and had some fun.”
Isner was bidding to become the fifth active player to win four consecutive titles at an ATP World Tour event, along with Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Kei Nishikori.
“It was an encouraging week for me. It was my first final since here last year. It’s tough to make a final. The guys are good out there. It’s definitely been an encouraging week. The margins in my matches are pretty small and I just have to fix some things. Of course I wanted to win this. I love the event. But I’m not too discouraged. I know I’m not far away and these close matches will start going my way,” Isner told.
Argentines Claim Doubles Title
Later the day, Argentines Andres Molteni and Horacio Zeballos clinched the doubles title, winning 7-6, 6-4 over Swedish tandem Johan Brunstrom and Andreas Siljestrom in one hour and 32 minutes.
Molteni clinched his first ATP World Tour title in his second final. Zeballos, meanwhile, claimed his fifth career doubles crown and first on hard courts..
“It’s amazing. I’m very happy. It’s the first week I have played with Horacio. It’s an incredible week,” Molteni said and Zeballos added:
“It was a great week in both singles and doubles. It’s one of the best weeks of the year. I’m very happy. I’m hoping it gives me a lot of confidence for the next tournaments.”
