Singles qualifying begins Saturday morning at the Truist Atlanta Open presented by Fiserv, in Midtown, Atlanta. Eight qualifying matches are on the schedule.
A couple intriguing matches to watch are qualifying top-seed, Peter Gojowczyk taking on Atlanta’s own Donald Young, who had to win a local wildcard playoff tournament to get his spot in the draw. Young a former top-40 player is trying find his form and a win on Saturday in front of local supporters would go a long way for the lefty.
American, Noah Rubin, was the last player into the qualifying by ranking will face off with Evegny Donskoy of Russia in what should be a very competitive match. Rubin has had success in Atlanta in past years and Donskoy has played the main draw in Atlanta many times. Bother players like to play from the baseline and it has the makings of a long and close match.
Another player to watch in the qualifying draw, 2021 Wimbledon Boy’s Champion, Samir Banerjee.
Earlier this month, in the first all-American boys’ singles final at the All England Club since 2014, Banerjee of Basking Ridge, N.J., defeated Victor Lilov 7-5, 6-3. The 17-year old called it a “crazy moment” but is staying grounded and as a rising high school senior, has committed to playing collegiate tennis for Columbia University. Benerjee has been training at Centercourt Academy in Chatham N.J. Centercourt was established in 1974 and is a leader in sports programming with eight facilities across the state of New Jersey and 750,000 square feet of field, turf and court space.
Banerjee is attracting interest because he is not the typical American junior player that hugs the baseline. He likes to play aggressive, approach the net and even serve and volley.
First Round
[1] P. Gojowczyk (GER) vs. [WC] D. Young (USA)
[Alt] J. Ward (GBR) vs. [5] I. Marchenko (UKR)
[2] C. O’Connell (AUS) vs. Y. Watanuki (JPN)
[WC] S. Banerjee (USA) vs. [6] S. Ofner (AUT)
[3] E. Donskoy (RUS) vs. N. Rubin (USA)
M. Ebden (AUS) vs. [8] G. Soeda (JPN)
[4] J. Jung (TPE) vs. L. Lacko (SVK)
B. Fratangelo (USA) vs. [7] E. Ymer (SWE)
The first balls were struck on the courts at 10am Friday morning as local tennis dignitaries joined Tournament Director Eddie Gonzalez for a hit and fun set of tennis.