Atlanta Day 4 report: Berankis, Hewitt win before washout

More rain plagued the BB&T Atlanta Open on Tuesday, but not before Ricardas Berankis finally wrapped up a thriller against Mischa Zverev out on Court 3. In each of the two sets he lost, Zverev held considerable leads. The German raced to 4-0 advantage in the first set and in the third he found himself two points from the match serving at 5-4, 30-0. He also led 3-0 in the final-set tiebreaker. Nonetheless, Berankis prevailed 7-6(4), 2-6, 7-6(8) after saving one match point with an ace at 7-8 in the ‘breaker. Zverev fought off two match points with winners at both 5-6 and 6-7, but a mis-hit forehand at 8-9 ended the qualifier’s run. For the most part it was low-quality match, but both tiebreakers–especially from Berankis–were surprisingly outstanding and clutch by both.

More impressive displays from start to finish were turned in by Lleyton Hewitt and Edouard Roger-Vasselin on Stadium. Only two service breaks took place, and both came with Roger-Vasselin attempting to stay alive in sets at 4-5. Those were enough for Hewitt to get the job done 6-4, 6-4.

Yen-Hsun Lu, Denis Istomin, and Santiago Giraldo joined Berankis and Hewitt in the second round before rain halted play during the night session. Mardy Fish leads Michael Russell by a set but trails by a break late in the second. The entirety of the James Blake vs. Tim Smyczek match was pushed back to Wednesday.

John Isner practice