ATP Atlanta – Friday Preview

Gilles Muller vs. Kevin Anderson

Anderson has big serve as does Muller, but Muller disapointed with a 1st round defeat in Ireland, which was on fake grass, anderson has edge on this with Muller coming in out of form. South African Kevin Anderson continued the best season of his career, downing Michael Russell in straight sets to reach the quarter-finals of the ATP Atlanta Championships.

Anderson, a semi-finalist here a year ago, on Wednesday remained on track for a potential final against 2010 champion Mardy Fish. After enjoying a first-round bye, Anderson opened his Atlanta campaign with a second-round 6-1, 7-5 victory over Russell, a 33-year-old journeyman from the United States.

He will play Friday against Gilles Muller of Luxembourg, who notched 15 aces in a 7-6 (8/6), 2-6, 6-2 victory over Robby Ginepri, who is trying to come back from the broken elbow he suffered in a mountain bike crash last year.

Anderson, 25 and ranked ranked 34th in the world, won a title on home turf in Johannesburg this season. Against Russell, he needed less than 90 minutes to book his sixth quarter-final of 2011.

"This season is the result of a lot of hard work," said Anderson, who has climbed some 100 spots in the world rankings in the last 18 months and captured his first career title.

"I'm clearer on how I want to be playing. I've learned a lot playing higher-ranked opponents.

"I now have more belief no matter who is on the other side of the net. I'm working on movement, coming to the net more and trying to dictate. I want to do everything possible to allow myself to play my best tennis."

Anderson's big serve produced 10 aces as he broke Russell four times while dropping his own serve once.

The steamy summer conditions on the hard court did not make life any easier for Anderson, who along with Russell lost a year ago here to eventual runner-up John Isner.

But the weather was cool compared to the scorching temperatures of last years' inaugural edition.

"The heat picked up at the start but settled down at the end," Anderson said. "It was definitely more comfortable today than last year. But the heat is still there and you have to manage yourself.

"It can get to you quickly and can take a toll. You have to keep it out of your mind."

Third-seeded Isner was launching his Atlanta campaign later Wednesday against good friend and Florida neighbor James Blake.

John Isner vs. Lu Yen-Hsun

John Isner and James Blake are doubles partners, neighbors in suburban Tampa and practice together, so there are no surprises when they play each other.

That's why Isner was relieved to put this match behind him.

The No. 3 seed used 30 aces to overcome his struggling return game in a 7-6 (8), 6-7 (3), 7-5 victory over Blake in the second round of the Atlanta Tennis Championships on Wednesday night.

"It's always fun playing doubles with him and I think we had a lot of fun last night," Isner said. "To be honest, I'd rather not draw him in a tournament, particularly early on. If you're going to play a friend, you want it to be in a final like I did with Mardy (Fish) here last year."

Isner hardly enjoyed a perfect service game, double-faulting on tiebreakers in the first and second sets. Following the miscue in the second set, Blake earned four straight points before serving out for a 7-3 win.

Isner was coming off his second ATP title, winning on grass at the Hall of Fame Championships in Newport, where he didn’t lose a set.

“Confidence was the difference tonight,” Isner said. “During the big points of the match, I played my best. From 5-all with him serving 40-15 where he double-faulted, those three points I played from 40-30 him, deuce and my add were the best three points I played probably the whole match.”

On Friday he will meet Yen-Hsun Lu of Taiwan. Lu advanced also after a 3 sets win and a tough match against Matosevic, he maneuvered well the Aussie on court, he was the better player, he returned well and aggressive, he resisted well from the back of the court letting Matosevic to make the errors and also served well when he need it. Isner might struggled on court against Blake but when you have that serve, and forehand, you can blast anyone on court especially Lu who hasn’t a powerful weapon to trouble Isner.