Giant Isner’s booming serve could blow others away in Atlanta


As momentum gathers for next month’s US Open, Andy Roddick is the 11/8 to win the Atlanta Tennis Championships.

Roddick was given a wildcard for the tournament after making a last-minute decision to enter the Atlanta event, and the Grand Slam winner is raring to add to the two tour titles he has won so far in 2010.

Another American, the 6ft 9in giant John Isner, is also fancied to do well and he is 4/1 to win the tournament.

Currently ranked 19th in the world and having already won a tour event this year, Isner is a player in fine form.

Isner will be familiar to many having beaten Nicolas Mahut 6-4 3-6 6-7 7-6 70-68 at Wimbledon in the longest tennis match of all-time.

None of the big serving 25-year-old’s matches at Atlanta should last 11 hours – as his epic with Mahut did – though he will have to navigate his way past some very doughty challengers.

There are few players more tenacious than Australian Lleyton Hewitt, and the former Wimbledon champion is a 5/1 contender to win in Atlanta.

Hewitt has been resurgent of late, having won the Halle event in June and climbed to number 30 in the world, having languished outside the top 50 last year.

Following his 6-1 6-2 thrashing of British hopeful James Ward in the first round, American veteran Mardy Fish also looks like a very capable contender at 7/1.

Hard court specialists such as Roddick and Isner should thrive in Atlanta, but who do you think will be victorious? See the full Atlanta Tennis Championships market.