For Tennis Parents by a Tennis Parent

I will be out at the BB&T Atlanta Open through Friday this week and will be publishing the press releases each day as well as live Tweeting from the event. Please be sure to follow @ParentingAces on Twitter! If you’re on site, let me know so we can meet!

Chardy, Young and Youzhny Winners on Day 2, Second Round on Wednesday

With one match suspended from Monday and another cancelled, Tuesday proved to be even a bigger day of tennis for the BB&T Atlanta Open, in Midtown.

Great singles matches started the day. Tournament No. 7 seed, Jeremy Chardy of France faced Ričardas Berankis from Lithuania. Great effort from both players, which made for a competitive match. Chardy’s serve and consistency were a little too much and he will move on to the next round 6-4, 6-3.

At the age of 31, Chardy is still one of the most dangerous players on the ATP World Tour. He came out, executed a plan and used his years of experience to his advantage. He had perfect placement and timing on when to push for the point.

Even though Berankis played more aggressively in the second set and moved to the net. Chardy was too much and someone to watch in Atlanta.

Atlanta’s Donald Young concluded his Monday night match with Ivo Karlovic by outlasting the 6’11” veteran in a third set tiebreaker. In a match with wild swings and missed opportunities, Young was happy to be the last man standing.

“I tried to stay there and focused,” admitted Young. “The opportunity came, and I picked the right spot on a break point and hit a good shot. There we were; we were even again. I knew once that we went to a break. I have won the last three breakers we have played. I was feeling pretty confident on the breaker.”

Tuesday is “College Night” at the BB&T Atlanta Open, which means a player from a college in the state of Georgia gets to face off against an ATP World Tour professional. This is the year where it’s the University of Georgia’s turn and the wildcard went to rising senior, Emil Reinberg. Reinberg is an Atlanta native and one of the top players on the Bulldog tennis squad.

Reinberg’s opponent was Mikhail Youzhny of Russia. Youzhny is a ATP World Tour veteran and a former top-10 player. Even though Reinberg fell in straight sets, 6-2, 6-0, he held his head high in defeat.

“Not the best, but it’s all a learning experience,” Explained Reinberg. “I think I can take a lot from this match, and only keep going forward from here.”

The Russian played a clean and concise match and capitalized on multiple breakpoint opportunities. Reinberg lost a ten minute game on his serve in the second set, at 0-1, which caused a momentum shift and lead Youzhny to victory.

High School Tennis Clinic

More than 100 high school tennis players participated in a 90 minute clinic this morning with a special guest player, Nick Kyrgios. Tournament No. 2 seed Kyrgios kept the players and fans watching entertaining with a variety of shots including “tweeners.”

Kids Luv Tennis

Sandy Springs Tennis offers an after school tennis program, Kids Luv Tennis, which provides tennis lessons to the underserved elementary students in the Sandy Springs area. “We offer beginning tennis to elementary aged kids,” said Dianna Dummitt KLT Program Director, “they love being here today.”

There are six schools in the area that partner with Sandy Springs Tennis. Fifteen students from their program got the opportunity to come to the BB&T Open and play mini tennis with professional tennis player, Alex De Minaur who won his first round at the BB&T. The fifteen students also get to watch a match after their time on the mini tennis court.

Main draw singles and doubles play continues Wednesday!

RESULTS – JULY 24, 2018

Men’s

Singles – First Round

[5] F. Tiafoe (USA) d M. Copil (ROU) 64 64
[6] J. Chardy (FRA) d R. Berankis (LTU) 64 63
[7] M. Zverev (GER) d T. Smyczek (USA) 63 67(8) 63
[8] R. Harrison (USA) d [PR] J. Duckworth (AUS) 46 76(2) 61
M. Youzhny (RUS) d [WC] E. Reinberg (USA) 62 60
[WC] D. Young (USA) d I. Karlovic (CRO) 26 76(5) 76(6)
M. Baghdatis (CYP) d [Q] A. Bolt (AUS) 64 61
T. Fritz (USA) d R. Ramanathan (IND) 64 64
C. Norrie (GBR) d M. Jaziri (TUN) 75 60
[Q] N. Rubin (USA) d [Q] T. Kokkinakis (AUS) 63 64

Doubles – First Round

[WC] C. Eubanks (USA) / D. Young (USA) d M. Ebden (AUS) / J. Withrow (USA) 46 76(3) 10-8
M. Bryan (USA) / F. Tiafoe (USA) d J. Cerretani (USA) / L. Paes (IND) 75 61

ORDER OF PLAY – WEDNESDAY, JULY 25, 2018

STADIUM COURT start 11:00 am
T. Fritz (USA) vs [3] [WC] H. Chung (KOR)

Not Before 1:00 pm
[8] R. Harrison (USA) vs L. Lacko (SVK)

Not Before 4:00 pm
M. Youzhny (RUS) vs [7] M. Zverev (GER)

Not Before 7:00 pm
[1] J. Isner (USA) vs A. de Minaur (AUS)
M. Arevalo (ESA) / M. Reyes-Varela (MEX) vs [2] R. Harrison (USA) / R. Ram (USA)

AJC GRANDSTAND start 11:00 am
[1] D. Sharan (IND) / A. Sitak (NZL) vs R. Arneodo (MON) / J. Chardy (FRA)

Not Before 2:00 pm
[3] N. Monroe (USA) / J. Smith (AUS) vs [WC] C. Eubanks (USA) / D. Young (USA)

After Suitable Rest – T. Fritz (USA) / C. Norrie (GBR) vs [4] J. Erlich (ISR) / J. Salisbury (GBR)

The BB&T Atlanta Open has welcomed more than 330,000 fans to Atlantic Station over the past eight years, establishing itself as one of the top ATP tennis events in the US. Tickets for the 2018 BB&T Atlanta Open can be purchased at http://www.bbtatlantaopen.com/.