Former BB&T Atlanta Open champions to join forces and play doubles in 2015 event.
They have been friends on and off the tennis court for a longtime, but for Andy Roddick and Mardy Fish, two great champions of tennis and top American tennis players, playing doubles together in Atlanta in this year’s BB&T Atlanta Open will be something extra special.
“We’ve got a long history,” explains Fish. “We’re excited to do it there again in Atlanta. I’m training probably harder than Andy is now because of the singles stuff. But I’m on him to hopefully get back and at least start practicing a little bit more. But we’re super excited.”
Roddick says he is going to be ready.
“Yeah, we did want to play the Open last year, but it was my fault. I didn’t know the rules. I’m getting back into the drug testing pool. So I kind of got Mardy all excited about it and couldn’t actually do it. I think this is something we wanted to do. Obviously with Mardy’s comeback, it’s been a pretty amazing story. The fact that he’s going to pursue that even more this summer is really exciting.”
Together, Fish and Roddick have won two doubles titles and had a runner-up appearance. Roddick has been an on-air commentator for Fox Sports and won the most tournaments on the PowerShares senior tour this year.
Fish has also entered the singles draw in Atlanta. He is a two-time champion in Atlanta, has won six ATP World Tour singles titles, eight doubles titles and claimed the silver medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens. His two finals victories in Atlanta came over John Isner in three sets.
Other notable 2015 main draw players announced include:
· Jack Sock: 2014 singles semifinalist and doubles champion reached a career-high ranking of No. 31 after reaching the round of 16 at the French Open. At the age of 22, he is considered the top rising young American with a current ranking of No. 30.
· Kevin Anderson: The 2013 finalist has played here all five years. Currently ranked No. 17 in the world, he has won two ATP crowns and reached six other finals.
· Vasek Posipsil: Defending doubles champ also captured last year’s Wimbledon crown with Sock. Ranked as high as No. 25 and reached the third round of the 2015 Australian Open.
· Janko Tipsarevic: The big-serving Serb reached No. 8 in 2012 and has four ATP crowns.
· Gilles Muller: Luxembourg native reached the quarterfinals of the U.S. Open in 2008 and was a finalist at the 2012 BB&T Atlanta Open, losing to Andy Roddick.
· Donald Young: Former world No. 1 junior player and Atlanta native reached his second ATP World Tour final at Delray Beach in February.
· Radek Stepanek: With a career-high ranking of No. 4 in 2012 and more than $10 million in prize money, he is the owner of five tour tournament wins.
· Adrian Mannarino: The Frenchman is having another career year, hitting No. 29 in April.
· Benjamin Becker: With wins this year over Lleyton Hewitt and Fernando Verdasco, Becker currently sits at No. 43.
· Tim Smyczek: No. 72 American gained fame after entering the 2015 Australian Open as a qualifier, reaching the second round and nearly defeating Rafael Nadal in a five-set match.
· Alexandr Dolgopolov: Former No. 13 Ukrainian is making his first Atlanta appearance; reached the 2011 Australian Open quarterfinals.
The tournament, held July 25- August 2, at Atlantic Station, is the first event in the Emirates Airline US Open Series. It has also recently announced the Bryan brothers, arguably the greatest men’s doubles team in tennis history, has committed to play here in 2015. Marcos Baghdatis has also been announced as playing in the tournament along with two-time defending champion and Atlanta favorite, John Isner.
See more information at www.bbtatlantaopen.com.
