ATLANTA, July 27, 2022 (Press Release)

The main draws continued on Tuesday in Atlanta at the 2022 Atlanta Open. This year’s ATP 250 event runs from July 23-31, as the U.S. Open Series kicks off on the North American hardcourts at Atlantic Station.

Jenson Brooksby, Jack Sock and Tommy Paul were all in action.

Jenson Brooksby started out the first set strong in his opener with Benoit Paire. He won the first three games of the set with ease. Paire made several unforced errors over the course of the first three games which gave Brooksby momentum. Paire would be able to eventually hold his serve once against Brooksby but would not be able to break back. Brooksby won the first set 6-3.

Paire was able to win the first game of the second set. He won the game with a dropshot that Brooksby couldn’t quite get to. Any hopes of a comeback Paire had were quicky crushed. The young American went on to win the next six games in a row. Brooksby won the game, set, and match with a driving forehand winner. Brooksby won the second set 6-1.

Brooksby defeated Paire 6-3, 6-1 in their first-round match.

Next up, an All-American clash, Paul took no time to quickly jump ahead of Jack Sock. He raced to a 5-0 lead before being broken. Despite this, he came back the following game and closed out the first set 6-1.

More domination on serves and returns; Paul started the second set similar to the first. He quickly made use of each opportunity given on his way to claim the second set and match. Paul won 6-1, 6-1.

Bryan Shelton, the Florida Gator, would make his ATP tour debut in the Atlanta Open going up against India’s Ramkumar Ramanathan. The big stage did not seem to bother the young American as he secured an opening break to start off the match. The first set remained in the control of Shelton as he continued to dictate play with his serve and forehand. Ramanathan seemed to have no answer as he got broken again down 4-2 to lead to him losing the set 6-2 after being closed out on the Shelton serve.

The Indian would not go away without a fight as he held to open the second set and started working his way to put some more pressure on his return games. The Gator refused to take his foot off the gas as he kept holding and broke at 1-1 in the second. The next few games would be quite even with Ramanathan charging the net more to disrupt the rhythm of his young opponent. After being able to serve his way back from 40-0 twice an inopportune double fault from Shelton secured the first break of the match for the Indian. While many young players would be thrown off losing a break lead so close to the end of the match, the American chose to dig in and fight hard to stay in the set and break back at 5 all to set up a chance to serve out the match. At 6-5 Shelton would finish off the match and let out a roar to celebrate his first ever ATP win in the city where he spent the first 10 years of his life. When asked after the match he accredited the win to hard work and believing in all the preparation that he has put in. His next match of the tournament will put him up against six-time tournament champion John Isner that will be a duel of big serving Americans.

ATP Tour debut. ATP Tour WIN 🙌

NCAA singles champion & Atlanta native @benshelton1009 scores a 6-2 7-5 victory over Ramanathan.#AtlantaOpen pic.twitter.com/gGTOIo1s4j

— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) July 26, 2022

Martin buzzes past Kokkinakis in College Night showdown

Georgia native Andres Martin defeated Australia’s Thanasi Kokkinakis in the round of 32 of the by a score of 6-3, 6-2. The Georgia Tech student arrived on the court in the famous Ramblin’ Wreck and was escorted by a parade of rowdy, flag-waving cheerleaders.

Martin, 21, is ranked 736 in singles and received a wildcard to enter the tournament in May. This is his first participation in an ATP tournament.

In the first set, Martin started out strong with the thundering applause of the crowd overwhelmingly in his support. Things leveled until Martin broke Kokkinakis in game six and rode the momentum to claim the set 6-3.

The second saw Kokkinakis serving several aces and causing some trouble for the Flowery Branch native. However, It didn’t take long for Martin to find a good rhythm and break his opponent twice in a row to handily claim the final set with a score of 6-2.

STAND UP, GEORGIA 🙌@GeorgiaTech star Andres Martin, No. 736 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings, stuns Kokkinakis 6-3 6-2 for his first ATP Tour win!#AtlantaOpen pic.twitter.com/9PyLee7LTV

— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) July 27, 2022

Also on the grounds today was a special business and networking event.

The Atlanta Business Chronicle Business of Sports Summit brought together business leaders of Atlanta sports to talk about the future of sports in Atlanta. Speakers included Alex Urban, Executive Director of the PGA Tour, Reggie Chatman Jr, sports anchor / reporter, Darrice Griffin, Senior Deputy Director of Athletics at UGA, Derek Schiller, President and COO of the Atlanta Braves, as well as Morgan Shaw Parker, President and COO or the Atlanta Dream. Each speaker talked about the future of the teams and how each team has a close connection with the community. Bringing in more fans and diversity to Atlanta as well as creating the best place for people to work and play sports.

Tickets are on sale here.