Isner, Harrison advance to BB&T Atlanta Open final
FILE PHOTO – John Isner of the US returns to Croatia’s Marin Cilic during their men’s singles first round tennis match at the ATP Aegon Championships tennis tournament at Queen’s Club in west London on June 20, 2017. / AFP PHOTO / GLYN KIRK
ATLANTA — Second-seeded John Isner beat third-seeded Gilles Muller of Luxembourg 6-4, 6-2 on Saturday to reach the BB&T Atlanta Open final for the fifth straight year and the seventh time in eight years.
Isner lost to Nick Kyrgios last year at Atlantic Station after winning the hard-court event three straight years. The 6-foot-10 former University of Georgia star will face fourth-seeded Ryan Harrison in an all-American final.
“It was a very good match. Absolutely nothing to complain about today,” Isner said. “On and off the court in pretty quick fashion and I certainly will be ready to go tomorrow. I feel great physically, maybe the best I have felt in quite some time. More importantly than that, I am pretty confident as well.”
The 32-year-old Isner won the Hall of Fame Open last week in Newport, Rhode Island, for his 11th career title — all at the ATP World Tour 250 level. He has won seven consecutive tour matches and held for 69 straight service games.
Muller reached the Wimbledon quarterfinals this month.
“He made it very tough for me today,” Miller said. “I don’t feel like I played a bad match. I maybe didn’t serve well enough today, but it’s also because of him. He put a lot of pressure on me. It was very tough out there today. All credit to him. He played a great match.”
Harrison beat fifth-seeded Kyle Edmund of England 6-7 (5), 6-3, 6-4. Harrison won the Memphis Open in February for his first career title. Edmund beat top-seeded Jack Sock on Friday night.
