Tennis fans in the metro Atlanta area and the southeastern United States will look forward to a star-studded field at this year’s 2016 BB&T Atlanta Open, the annual ATP World Tour 250 event held in the capital of Georgia, which is a very popular area for tennis.
The tournament, which takes place in Atlantic Station in downtown Atlanta, is one of eight summer tournaments in the Emirates Airline US Open Series. The tournament’s chief business operator and tournament director, Eddie Gonzalez, formally announced the tournament’s field of players, which included ten players in the ATP World Tour top 50.
Star-studded field announced in Atlanta
At the tournament’s media day event, Gonzalez formally announced the tournament’s field for the 2016 edition of the tournament. The tournament’s social media teased the arrival of a former junior world number one. That teased player turned out to be world number 18 Nick Kyrgios of Australia, who will play in Atlanta for the first time. The entry list, which is subject to change, is listed below, in order of ranking.
17 John Isner, USA
18 Nick Kyrgios, Australia
23 Benoit Paire, France
24 Kevin Anderson, RSA
29 Lucas Pouille, France
32 Alexandr Dolgopolov, UKR
34 Jeremy Chardy, France
36 Albert Ramos-Vinolas, Spain
39 Julien Benneteau, France
43 Marcel Granollers, Spain
49 Borna Coric, Croatia
52 Fernando Verdasco, Spain
54 Adrian Mannarino, France
58 Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, Spain
63 Taylor Fritz, USA
67 John Millman, Australia
68 Kyle Edmund, Great Britain
69 Donald Young, USA
72 Diego Schwartzman, Argentina
This summer also marks the 20th anniversary of the 1996 Summer Olympics, which took place in Atlanta. According to Gonzalez, the tournament will make sure to highlight the important anniversary.
“With the help of our great partner, Coca-Cola, we are bringing the spirit and memories of the 1996 Atlanta Olympics back for a week during the 2016 BB&T Atlanta Open,” Gonzalez said. “With historic pieces from the Coca-Cola 1996 Olympic vault and former Olympians to recreating the 1996 Olympic Gold Medal singles historic rematch between Andre Agassi and Sergi Bruguera, this is the perfect way for us to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games!”
The tournament also announced the addition of new practice courts. According to Gonzalez, "The beautiful new practice courts here at Atlantic Station show our commitment to making sure our players have everything at their disposal to get ready for the BB&T Atlanta Open and prepare for the start of the U.S. Open in August."
John Isner looks for fourth consecutive title; Kyrgios makes first appearance in Atlanta
Coming into the tournament, defending champion John Isner will look to win his fourth consecutive title in Atlanta. Last year, the American number one defeated Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus in the final, 6-3, 6-3, for his third consecutive title. In addition to Isner, Kyrgios will make his first appearance on the hard courts in Atlanta.
The world number 17 is looking forward to the event, saying, “I'm excited to be making my first appearance in Atlanta at the BB&T Atlanta Open. I'm going to give it all I got, feed off the crowd and take in what looks like a cool venue at Atlantic Station.”
The tournament will run from July 30th until August 7th. Since the current tournament’s inception in 2010, no non-American player has ever won the title. Mardy Fish won in 2010 and 2011, Andy Roddick won in 2012, and Isner has won from 2013-2015.