Atlanta Day 3 report: Harrison, Williams advance in main draw

Mardy Fish looked good on the practice court for a second straight day, taking a set off Lleyton Hewitt 6-2. He also did plenty of verbal sparring–all in good fun–with Hewitt, John Isner, and James Blake.

Qualifying spots in the main draw went to Mischa Zverev, Tim Smyczek, Kevin King, and Matthew Ebden. Zverev rolled over Prakash Amritraj, Smyczek held off Donald Young in two hotly-contested sets, Kevin King came back to upset an ailing Robby Ginepri in three, and Ebden won an all-Australian Open encounter with Chris Guccione.

Main-draw victories were scored by Americans Ryan Harrison and Rhyne Williams, who effectively lead the U.S. Open Series after one day of action. Harrison survived a back-and-forth affair with Marinko Matosevic, coming out on top 6-2, 2-6, 6-3. Matosevic powered his way to the second set, but Harrison was the steadier player for the most part from start to finish. Although the 21-year-old double-faulted seven times, he also fired seven aces and won 33 of 38 first-serve points. Williams won an all-wild card affair against Denis Kudla 7-5, 6-4 to end the night session. Williams blasted 16 aces and earned his third break of the match at 4-4 in the second before serving it out with ease.

In between the Harrison and Williams matches was the “Brodown Showdown” starring the Blake brothers, the Harrison brothers, the Sock brothers, and Georgia Tech teammates King and Juan Spir. The Socks ended up winning the super-tiebreak tournament that featured plenty of laughs and more than a few outrageously entertaining points. Ryan Harrison and Jack Sock definitely took home top honors as the funniest characters of the exhibition.

Mardy Fish practice