The finals of singles qualifying started the day on Sunday at the Truist Atlanta Open presented by Fiserv, in Midtown, Atlanta. Four deserving players would earn their spot in the main draw.
The opener on stadium court featured German Peter Gojowczyk taking on Great Britain’s James Ward. It would be the German who would get off to a fast start securing the break in the first game of the match. Gojowczyk would continue to apply relentless pressure standing in and attacking returns that would earn him another break at 4-2. More of the same as the opening set went down with a score of 6-2 in favor of the man from Germany.
The next set would begin in a similar fashion with Gojowczyk earning another break in the first game. Showing some signs of fight Ward would immediately break back to even the set at 1 all. Struggling to counter the aggression of the German, Ward was broken at two- all. From then on it would be each player holding serve in order to eek out a 6-2 6-4 victory for Gojowczyk and earn a spot in the main draw.
An interesting match to follow on Stadium Court with Pittsburgh native, Bjorn Fratangelo and a tough baseliner in Jason Jung. The 28-year-old American fell flat in the second set getting broken twice by Jung. The Taiwanese player came to the net twice and used two volley winners to get his first break of the match. He then held serve for 4-1 in the second set with an emphatic ace out wide. Jung broke serve again for 5-1 with solid backhand returns from the ad court. This became a theme of the rest of the set as Fratangelo would consistently challenge Jung with flat serves out wide to the returners backhand. Jung answered the call almost every time with deep returns that would allow him to control the point. He dominated the American in the second set winning 6-1.
The third set was tight without a break through the first 11 games. Both men challenged the other with break attempts and never really allowed a simple hold. At 1-2, Jung was pushed to deuce after leading 40-0. He still held to even the match at 2-2, but really lost momentum in his subsequent return game. Jung seemed uneasy and playing on his heels through the rest of the match. Nevertheless, they continued to hold until 5-6 where he would have to serve to force a third set tiebreaker. Fratangelo hit an incredible sliding forehand winner up the line to start the game for 0-15. He then peppered a second serve return forcing an error from Jung. The third point was decided by a Jung unforced error giving Fratangelo three match points. Jung saved the first, and then just missed an inside in forehand by centimeters to lose the match. He was absolutely dejected when the automated “out” call rang across stadium court in Atlantic Station.
Fratanglo moves into the 2021 main draw with a 6-3, 1-6, 7-5 win over Jung.
Next up the Sunday Showdown women’s match. Despite a delay due to the weather, there was no rain on this exhibition parade. Kim Clijsters and Sloane Stephens played an entertaining and captivating match nd the fans loved every minute of the play. Once the match was underway, Stephens broke Clijsters serve early on and ran with it. Both players were swinging easy and freely. Stephens hung on and won the first set 6-4. Both players came out strong in the second set, staying on serve and breaking each other back to back. Stephens broke Clijsters serve at the crucial four games all mark and served out the match taking the second set 6-4. The final score showed how close this march was; Stephens defeated Clijsters 6-4, 6-4.
RESULTS – JULY 25, 2021
Mens
Qualifying Singles –
Second Round
Qualifying – [1] P. Gojowczyk (GER) d [Alt] J. Ward (GBR) 62 64
Qualifying – [2] C. O’Connell (AUS) d [6] S. Ofner (AUT) 42 Retired
Qualifying – [3] E. Donskoy (RUS) d M. Ebden (AUS) 64 64
Qualifying – B. Fratangelo (USA) d [4] J. Jung (TPE) 63 16 75
MONDAY, JULY 26, 2021
STADIUM COURT start 11:00 am
A. Seppi (ITA) vs [Q] B. Fratangelo (USA)
Not Before 1:30 pm
J. Thompson (AUS) vs [8] L. Harris (RSA)
A. Popyrin (AUS) vs S. Johnson (USA)
Not Before 7:00 pm
[Q] P. Gojowczyk (GER) vs S. Querrey (USA)
[3] A. Qureshi (PAK) / D. Sharan (IND) vs [WC] N. Kyrgios (AUS) / J. Sock (USA)
GRANDSTAND start 12:00 noon
M. Arevalo (ESA) / M. Reyes-Varela (MEX) vs [WC] K. Chopra (USA) / A. Martin (USA)
R. Opelka (USA) / J. Sinner (ITA) vs [2] J. Erlich (ISR) / S. Gonzalez (MEX)
MONDAY, JULY 26, 2021
STADIUM COURT start 11:00 am
A. Seppi (ITA) vs [Q] B. Fratangelo (USA)
Not Before 1:30 pm
J. Thompson (AUS) vs [8] L. Harris (RSA)
A. Popyrin (AUS) vs S. Johnson (USA)
Not Before 7:00 pm
[Q] P. Gojowczyk (GER) vs S. Querrey (USA)
[3] A. Qureshi (PAK) / D. Sharan (IND) vs [WC] N. Kyrgios (AUS) / J. Sock (USA)
GRANDSTAND start 12:00 noon
M. Arevalo (ESA) / M. Reyes-Varela (MEX) vs [WC] K. Chopra (USA) / A. Martin (USA)
R. Opelka (USA) / J. Sinner (ITA) vs [2] J. Erlich (ISR) / S. Gonzalez (MEX)
A Kid’s Weekend junior clinic was held on Sunday on the Stadium Court with junior players from Atlanta and the surrounding communities.
The main draws of singles and doubles were released on Saturday. The top singles seeds in order are as follows: Milos Raonic, Jannik Sinner, Cameron Norrie, Reilly Opelka, Taylor Fritz, John Isner, Benoit Paire, Lloyd Harris.
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