ATLANTA, July 21, 2019 (Press Release)
A few short rain delays didn’t put a damper on either the player’s, or fan’s enthusiasm as play started on Saturday at the 2019 BB&T Atlanta Open presented by First Data.
Play began under cloudy skies featuring a mix of young Americans and an international array of ATP World Tour vets. Play was called around 10pm due to rain.
Up first, Atlantan, Donald Young. After a very shaky start, Young survived and advanced to the second round of the qualifying draw.
He opposed German, Dominik Koepfer. The German came out hot and ready to play winning 17 out of the first 21 points of the match. Young nonetheless didn’t give up as he took three straight games, putting himself just a break behind his opponent at 3-4. Koepfer stopped the bleeding by holding on to his one break advantage and served his way to a 5-3 lead in the opening set. Koepfer took home the first set after winning 80% of his first serve points, but a massive forehand return winner is what sealed the deal for the German in the opening set.
It was the German once again who came out strong early in the second set. Koepfer broke Young in the second game and confirmed his break the very next game to take an early 3-0 lead. Young got on the scoreboard after he held serve on his second serving game, but the American still had trouble during his returning games and sees his opponent up 4-1 in the second set. Koepfer was one point away from serving the match out, but Young stayed solid and aced his way back in a game that proved to be the turning point of the set. Young became a very different player after that hold. More positive and energetic, Young went on to win the next four games serving the second set out with a beautiful running forehand volley after hitting a big first serve to close out the set 6-4 and even the playing field at one set all.
The third set saw a lot of close games that could have gone either way with a lot of opportunities for both players to break serve. Young took advantage of all the opportunities to win going away.
Georgia Tech product, Kevin King, was also in action on Saturday. King won the first set 7-5, an indication that the match was going to be a close one. Guido Andreozzi was able to fight back and win the second set with a score of 6-4, and took the momentum he earned into the beginning of the third set, where he managed to break King’s serve and get an early lead. Though down 2-0, King managed to win the next game, breaking the Argenine’s streak and momentum. With the score now 2-1, King responded to Andreozzi with two more straight games. The third set went to a tiebreaker as King won the first two points. Though Andreozzi was able to respond to King’s early lead with a point of his own, King steamrolled through the tie breaker, winning five straight points. King won the tiebreaker with a score of 7-2, advancing to play on Sunday.
Local Atlanta wildcard, Trent Bryde, didn’t get on the court on Saturday and plays top-seeded, Kamil Majchrzak of Poland. Bryde won the local Wildcard Playoffs to earn his spot in the qualifying draw.
RESULTS – JULY 20, 2019
Qualifying Singles – First Round
Qualifying – [WC] K. King (USA) d [2] G. Andreozzi (ARG) 75 46 76(2)
Qualifying – [Alt] D. Young (USA) d [4] D. Koepfer (GER) 36 64 63
Qualifying – [6] J. Jung (TPE) d A. Bolt (AUS) 76(6) 63
